


Monster Falls

by Queenflara



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Monster Falls, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2018-08-11 01:42:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 67,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7870621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queenflara/pseuds/Queenflara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While out exploring the woods, Dipper and Mabel discover a strange creek that leaves them with some more... unexpected... results. Hop along on their journey as they unravel more mysteries in the town of Gravity falls! (This work is completely inspired by the lovely Monster Falls au)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

Dipper laid back down across his mattress, staring up at the wooden rafters. He watched the lazy light from the window as it illuminated the room. The light bounced off of the dust particles in the air, casting a warm glow.

It was a late Saturday morning, and Dipper was resting alone in the attic. His twin was downstairs watching a High School Musical marathon on TV. Mabel had made it her goal to binge watch all three of the movies over the course of the summer, and she had taken up today to do it. The echoing chorus of "Get Your Head in the Game" could be heard throughout the shack with Mabel's voice getting lost in its sound.

"Blugh," Dipper thought out loud. Mabel had tried to stiff arm him into the movie too, but Dipper refused. She was disappointed, but agreed to let him go without much fuss. Sure, Dipper was out of bargaining glitter, but it was worth it. By the seventh time around, not even the upbeat "We're all in this together" can save High School Musical from being a monotonous repetition. Stan had disappeared a little earlier that morning, taking the paper and a cup of coffee with him. Now Dipper laid alone on his bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling. He only wished that he had thought of something to do before dismissing himself from the movie.

Dipper inhaled, and blew at the tuft of hair resting across his forehead.

Suddenly sitting up and stepping off the bed, Dipper reached beneath the frame to grab a wooden box. The old wood screeched as it dragged along the floor. Inside, Dipper's journal was laid flat across the bottom, along with a small black light and a multitude slightly chewed pens.

"What do you have in store for me today," Dipper muttered as he turned on the black light. He held it in one hand while he flipped through the pages with the other. He paged through the familiar pages, smiling at the parts he noticed as his own additions. The Gnomes, the Hide Behind, and the Gobble Wonker; all familiar passages Dipper had all but memorized.

Dipper stopped mid-flip, feeling the page pinched between his fingers. This one felt heavier than the others- and almost stockier.

Placing down the black light, Dipper leaned closer to the page. Sure enough, this paper was thicker than the rest. In fact, it almost looked as if two of the pages got stuck together.

"No way," Dipper disbelievingly said under his breath.

Rubbing his two fingers holding the page in place in opposite directions, Dipper watched as the two pages began to separate. As the papers fluttered apart, Dipper released a breath he didn't realize he was holding. With two new pages laid out in front of him, Dipper leaned in close to them. One was relatively blank, containing only a few lines of a paragraph that had been blotched out with ink. The other page was only half completed. Both were covered in yellowed glue, which had split when Dipper separated the pages.

A small excerpt was in the corner of the legible page. It was accompanied with a small sketch of a creek, dotted with large insects and other small creatures. The writing beneath the glue was smeared.

_While mapping out the layout of the woods, I've discovered an unusual body of water. The_ Fluvius Cantatis _, as I've decided to call it, flows between two ponds deep in the forest, located in the Northeastern corner of the woods (see section 3). Appearing to be nested in a relatively quiet location, it is a favorite watering hole for many of the magical beings living in Gravity Falls. The creatures that surround it do not seem to mind my audience, which makes it an excellent vantage point for observing the magical creatures' behavior. I was unable to approach the water being that the creatures around the shore seem unnaturally inclined to protect it. However, there seems to be several phases in the day that creatures tend to leave it uninhabited. Perhaps because of a ritual of some sort, but I was unable to prove this theory._

There was a second inscription below the first in a different pen.

_**WARNING:** Keep Your Distance In The Dark: More Hostile Creatures Inhabit The Area At Night!_

Dipper grinned wildly as he read the paragraph. It didn't seem dangerous, at least not by Gravity Fall's standards, and by looking the map, didn't seem too far a hike from the Mystery Shack. Grabbing his backpack from the bedpost, he slung the bag over his shoulder and proceeded down the stairs, journal in hand.

Mabel peeked over from the top of the couch as Dipper emerged from the staircase. She rested her chin on the wooden frame.

"Hey Dipper! Change your mind about the movie?" She grinned brightly, showing off her braces.

"'fraid not," Dipper replied, crinkling his nose. He turned towards Mabel as he walked towards the kitchen door. "How's your movie?" Mabel inhaled deeply, perking up as she did so.

"Good! I forgot how good these movies are! You're really missing out Dipper."

Dipper smiled inwardly as Mabel recalled the Disney drama. She nearly had these movies memorized from watching them over and over back on rainy days in Piedmont.

"So..." Mabel twisted herself around so that she hung upside-down off the couch. "Where are you going Dips?"

"A creek." Dipper stated. Mabel stuck out her tongue.

"Just a creek?" She questioned, hanging from her knees now. "Or is it a bit more..." she paused, lowering her voice dramatically. "Sinister?"

Dipper shrugged.

"Maybe. Sounds like it's a cool place to check out- there might even be some magical aspect to it." Dipper paused. "I might even get to see some monster in their 'Natural habitat."" He finished, adding air quotes around natural habitat. "I mean, I don't think magic counts as anything natural, but…" Dipper ended in a shrug. Mabel hung there for a moment, looking deep in thought.

"Huh. Is that one of the pages you added?"

Looking down, Dipper realized he walked down the stairs with the book open. It hung with the newly discovered pages pointed towards Mabel. He rushed over, showing the page to his sister.

"Actually, no. Mabel, you won't believe this,"" Dipper beamed. He turned the book, showing it to Mabel. "I was flipping through the pages and found these two glued together- I mean, look at it! It's incredible!" Mabel squinted and grabbed for the journal. Pulling it from Dipper's hands, she slid off the couch, landing in a headstand like slouch.

"You just found these pages?" Mabel exclaimed. "You've had your head buried in this book for weeks!"

"I know!" Dipper enthusiastically replied.

Mabel looked back at the book, squinting intensely at the illustration.

"Did you see these pixies?"

"What?" Dipper crouched over his sister. He leaned in close to the page, getting a better look at the illustration. Sure enough, the human-like creatures he mistook for insects all had long, spindly legs and arms, all sporting different poses. They all had wings, ranging from insect-like, bird-like, to even a pair with thin, leathery bat-like wings.

"Fairies…" Dipper breathed, gazing at the small creatures.

"That's it," Mabel announced, jumping up and racing for the stairs.

"What's it?"

"I'm coming with!" Mabel yelled back. Her voice was muffled by the floor now between them and the sound of her hurried footsteps along the wooden planks. "No way am I missing out on pixies and fairies!"

"I thought you were watching a movie!" Dipper yelled up at the ceiling.

Mabel appeared at the bottom of the stairs, now wearing a pink sweater. A large fish was colorfully stitched across it. A small backpack had also been slung across her back.

"Dipper. There's fairies out there." Mabel pointed dramatically out the window facing the woods. "I don't think I need to say more than that. Besides, you'll need a lady guide to introduce you." She smiled, grabbing his hand and heading out the door. "This is so exciting! What if we find a unicorn! They're like fairies, right?"

"No, they're over hyped horses." Dipper explained, only halfheartedly attempting to pull away from his sister's grasp.

"Pbbt, don't kid yourself- I know you've read Fablehaven. They're basically the same thing!"

"Mabel, that's fiction."

"You're fiction."

"I thought you said it wasn't that far." Mabel thought aloud, pulling herself over a fallen tree.

"I guess I'm not as good at map reading as I thought I was," Dipper answered as he crawled under the log behind Mabel.

Wet dirt was sticking to Dipper's knees. Lifting up his hands, Dipper grimaced at the wet mush clumped on his fingertips. "Ugh." He groaned, wiping his hands on a nearby tree stump. The temperature was a little warmer than comfortable, and the air was sticky from days of rain in the past week. Despite this, it was a relatively nice day. The noon sun was high in the sky, and the clouds dotted across it were just enough to keep the sun off the twins back. The trees also provided ample shade from the beating sun.

"Come on slow poke!" Mabel called. She leaned dramatically along an oak tree up ahead. Dipper pushed away from the tree trunk and ran towards his sister. He stopped beside Mabel, sliding forward in the mud.

"No!" Dipper panicked, wrapping his arms around a tree for support.

"Smooth!" Mabel giggled, skidding up to him.

"Neh." Dipper complained. He was shakily trying to regain his footing. "I feel dirty."

"Well, you are covered butt to toes in mud." Mabel commented. "And I thought waddles was the pig around here."

"Har-de-har." Dipper deadpanned.

"Aw, lighten up mud-butt." Mabel laughed, skipping away with a spray of mud. "It's just a little dirt." Dipper rolled his eyes.

"Just a little dirt," Dipper mimicked, steadily making his way through the underbrush. "And bugs and ticks." Mabel simply laughed in reply.

Dipper sighed and parted a pair of bushes. He paused, then turned his head back.

"Hey Mabel." Dipper called.

"Yes, Sargent party pooper?"

"Come look at this."

Mabel leaped forward to look over her brother's shoulder.

"Whoa," she breathed.

A large creek ran across the clearing in front of the two twins. Water ebbed several feet from its submerged banks while still pools of mud surrounded the lazy stream. A partially buried oak lay toppled over across the water.

"Where'd all this water come from?" Mabel wondered aloud.

"It must be from all the rain, "Dipper speculated. "I thought I read somewhere floods were more common during winter, but summers probably just as vulnerable."

Dipper gazed thoughtfully at the center of the water. Beneath the Oak, the current swirled where the rest of the barely flowing. He pointed to it. "Mabel does that look weird to you?"

"The water? Pbbt. What it's going to do, magically sink us?" She wriggled her fingers. "Ohohoo."

"No, Mabel. I'm serious. Doesn't that rub you the wrong way?"

"Please, Dipper," Mabel argued. "It's just water." She grinned. "Here."

She bent over, pulling off her sneaker.

"Mabel, what are you doing?"

"Proving a point." Tossing her shoe aside, Mabel dipped her toe into the waters.

"Mabel, be careful!" Dipper shrieked. He reached for Mabel's arm. She yanked away before Dipper grasped her. "Get out of the flood water."

"Dipper, try and loosen up a little. What on earth could happen?" Mabel yanked of her other shoe and tossed to the shore. Then she wriggled her bare toes in the mud. "See? Perfectly safe."

"Mabel, get out of there. Do you know how bad that water could be? It could be full of chemicals or sewage." Dipper hissed.

"I'm fine, Dips. Stop being such a spoil sport. I'm not going to go and do something dumb."

"Alright… Just stay away from the weird current." Mabel scoffed in reply and danced away from her twin. Dipper huffed in defeat, sitting down on a fallen log nearby. Mabel twirled in the waters, sending up sprays in multiple directions. Dipper grinned. She always stayed within a hop of shore and as far away from the swirling vortex as possible. Feeling satisfied with himself, Dipper gazed up at the sky.

Then Dipper frowned. He didn't know when it happened, but dark grey clouds had consumed the sun from view.

I guess we didn't notice from under all the trees. He thought to himself. And are those- Dipper recoiled as a drop of water pecked his cheek. Raindrops?

"Mabel, we should head back." Dipper called, cautiously hopping down from his perch. "It's starting to rain." Mabel paused mid twirl, gazing up at the sky.

"Alright," She called, jumping to shore. She slid forward a bit more than she meant to, brushing against her brother. "Whoops! My bad."

"Don't worry about it." Dipper grinned. Then he fell silent. His face contorted, like he was focusing on something.

"Dipper…?"

"Shh." Dipper waved his arm, silencing his twin. "Do you hear that?"

The soft sound of rushing water could be heard off in the distance. It rapidly grew louder, gaining accompanying sounds of woods and metal as it continued.

Both sibling's heads snapped toward the sound of breaking wood. Then the water around rose in a matter of seconds, till it lapped at their waists.

"Flash Flood!" Dipper shrieked, wrapping his arms around Mabel just as the final push of water came crashing through the tree line. Mabel secured her arms around her brother as the waters started pulling them with the current. It quickly carried them further and further downstream.

We're going to die, Dipper thought, panicked. He twisted wildly to find a way to get loose of the current. Mabel stared back at him with the same scared expression. Her hair swirled madly in the water, making it hard to see which direction was which. He met her gaze, before his eyes darted toward a looming shadow above the water. An overhang! Dipper realized.

Turning toward Mabel, he motioned for her to hold onto his waist. She looked at him in horror, as if to say "What do you think I'm doing?!"

Then Dipper let go, paddling wildly towards the rock. Mabel quickly tightened her grip on her twin, burying her fingers into his sides.

With the overhang approaching fast, Dipper had to kick widely to reach it in time. He stopped paddling just in front of the formation. He collided with it harshly a second later. Dipper scrambled to quickly dig his fingers into the grooves of the stone. He felt his feet shoot up from the force of the current, banging painfully against the rock.

"Oh no," he murmured, a little too late. He felt Mabel's grip loosen as she hit the rock. Then the presence of her arms curled around his legs completely disappeared. He peered over the rock just in time to see Mabel's form sink into the murky depths.

"Mabel!"


	2. Enter the Monsters in the Falls

Stanford stared at the phone. It remained motionless in its charging cavity. _Call her,_ Stan thought to himself. _The kids are probably with her. Just call and… ask_. He swallowed, reaching for the device. Gazing at his employee list, he quickly dialed the number. It rand once. Twice.

"You just reached Wendy." Came a voice on the other line. Stan sighed, rubbing the curve of his nose.

"Wendy? This is Stan."

"Mr. Pines?" Wendy asked, uncertainty creeping into her voice. "Is everything all right? I am getting fired? I told you I was sorry about the window." She paused. "Well, not yet, but I swear I was going too."

"No- no, of course not. I was just wondering if the twins were with you." There was a pause on the other line as Wendy took a deep breath of relief.

"Afraid not, Mr. Pines. I haven't seen those two since Friday. Want me to ask around?"

"No, that's fine. Don't worry about it." Stanford assured her, hanging up the phone. He slumped lower into his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. That was it. The last place they'd be.

Stan stared at the blank TV and the reflection of himself. He looked himself straight in the eye and cursed.

The day had started out nice enough. The sun was out, and Dipper and Mabel were entertaining themselves, so Stan had decided to go into the basement to work on some fried wiring. Next thing he knew, he comes upstairs mid-afternoon and it was pouring rain. The kids were nowhere to be found.

"Might as well check the rooms again." Stanford muttered to himself, pushing out of the chair. He checked the all the rooms on the first floor, starting with the kitchen. Then the gift shop, living room, and his own bedroom.

"You better not be in here Dipper!" Stan threatened the empty room. It remain silent. To be honest, he would have preferred the all the trouble if Dipper or Mabel popped out from under the bed.

Checking upstairs, the rest of the rooms came up empty. Stan found himself in the twin's room, sitting on Mabel's bed. Waddles rested his head in Stan's lap.

"Lazy lump of bacon." Stanford mumbled, patting the pink animal's head. The pig snorted softly. _Jesus, does this room need to be dusted,_ Stan thought. _I can practically trace my footsteps in this sand trap. I'll get Soos on it Monday._

Stan blinked.

_Wait a second…_ He squinted at the floor around Dipper's bed. There was a big spot clear of dust by the base of the mattress.

Pushing Waddles aside, Stan walked over towards his great nephew's bed and peered under the sheets. He found a small crate shoved under the bed. He pulled it out, wincing as it scratched the floor boards.

"Dumb kid," Stanford mumbled, "Can't even find a proper hiding place." He peered into the wooden box. A big space in the bottom was void of dust. "The journal?" Stan raised an eyebrow.

He turned, looking at the bedpost where Dipper kept his backpack. It hung bare. Quickly turning towards Mabel's bed, he found her backpack missing as well.

"Crap." Stanford raced down the staircase, grabbing his work jacket off the railing. He rushed into the kitchen, pulled on his boots, and ran outside. Sure enough, there was a trail of muddy footprints leading off into the woods. Stanford ran towards the trail, raising his hand to umbrella his eyes. The rain was thick, making it hard to see very far. It got better as he reached the tree line, as the leaves blocked out the rain.

"Stupid kids," Stanford mumbled, trudging along the kid's trail. He struggled through the small spaces the twins had crawled their ways through, grimacing at the collection of mud he had accumulated at the bottom of his work suit.

Hopefully he would find the kids soon. It wouldn't be too long until it got dark.

 

* * *

 

"What have you two gotten yourselves into?" Stan muttered, stepping around a large puddle. He had noticed a lot of puddles lately. It was becoming hard to not notice them. The ground was so diluted, water would rise up from the ground and around his every footstep. It was becoming uncomfortable to walk. His suit was soaked, whether it was from the rain above, or the puddles below. As far as Stan could tell, he had been walking for at least an hour through the mud. One continuous splash of a foot step after another.

And on top of all that, the rain was shrinking his suit. Well, he couldn't be sure, but the cloth around his shoulders and back felt as though they were tightening. Stanford rolled his shoulders, trying to rearrange his shirt.

Suddenly, he paused. The sound of running water started to mush over the sound of the rain. Stepping forward with a new purpose, Stan pushed his way through the underbrush and into a large clearing. Looking around, he noted flood water covering much of the clearing.

Making his way towards the water, Stan noticed the grass all swept down hill, like the level of water had gone down. Now, the water just sat in murky puddles, unable to dissipate into the wet earth. Looking up, Stan scanned the clearing. No more foot prints. He looked again. He turned on his heels and looked back the way he had come. Where did those kids go? Stan grumbled in his head. He started looking at fallen trees for prints, just in case the kids climbed their way out. He sharply inhaled as his eyes landed on a large tree branch.

"Oh no…" Stanford sighed. He approached the fallen tree. Entangled in its branches was the shoelace to one of Mabel's sneakers. The said shoe was dangling in the air beneath it.

"Mabel!" Stan yelled, pulling the shoe loose. "Dipper! Kids!"

 

* * *

 

_"Mabel! Mabel!"_

Dipper tossed in his sleep, nuzzling further into the crevice of his elbow.

_"Mabel!"_

The memories of earlier were still fresh in his mind.

_"Mabel!" Dipper screamed, reaching wildly into the waters. He had to bury his fingers deep into the rock's surface to avoid getting carried away with the current. It had grown stronger since he pulled himself up onto the overhang._ You need to stop, _Rang a voice in his head._ She's already gone.

_Remorsefully, Dipper sat back against the bluff face the overhang conjoined with, letting cool tears stream down his face._ Mabel… _he miserably thought._ I lost Mabel… _The water continued the roll by._

He cried several hours after that, and was temporarily released from reality when he fell asleep on the rock. Dipper still felt exhausted from the rush of adrenaline in the river. And from crying, he numbly thought. Everything felt numb. His hands, his face. He couldn't feel anything from his waist down. It was like all his limbs fell asleep and fell off at the same time.

Lifting his head from the crook of his elbow, Dipper scanned his surroundings. He had to squint. It was all a little fuzzy until his eyes adjusted. The water had lowered, revealing a stony ravine. Dipper looked over the edge of the rock to the water. It was easily out of arm's length, but close enough to dive in safely. _I bet Mabel's down there,_ He numbly thought. _Ehhhh…_

Dipper had to choke back the urge to curl into a ball and cry. _No. No, I need to get home. To- to tell Stan._ Dipper gulped and stared at the water. Maybe he could just stay here. Someone would come out and find him sooner or later, right? It was getting dark out. And then they can tell Stan. It's okay if Grunkle Stan hates them.

But what about the journal entry? A daunting thought occurred to Dipper. He pulled the journal from his backpack, struggling to find it in the diminishing sunlight. He turned to the page marked with the Fluvirus-, Fliven-. _Fluvius Cantatis._ Dipper reminded himself. He traced the paragraph with his finger until her found the line he was looking for. Hostile creatures inhabit the area at night.

"Oh no," Dipper gasped, feeling the blood from his face diminish. Then he felt his ears droop, brushing against his neck.

"What the heck?" Dipper muttered, reaching for his neck. He pinched a soft surface, much like a dog's ear. He tugged on it and yelped. He felt a sharp pain against his skull as he pulled. Pulling on the object again, although this time not as hard, he tugged it into view.

"Is that a... goat ear?" Dipper muttered. He pulled on it again. "Ow!" Dipper stopped, rubbing where his ear was supposed to be. He went pale.

"Oh…my god." Dipper paused. He ran both hands against his head, holding the hairy masses in his palms. "Ooh my god, Oh no. Oh no no no no no…," He shot up from the ground, shakily waving his arms as he let go of head.

Dipper quickly grabbed the rock wall beside him. The legs beneath him felt like jelly. He turned, then immediately wished he hadn't.

Four shaky legs wobbled where Dipper's two should have been. HE felt the last bit of blood drain from his face.

"Ahhh!" Dipper shrieked, falling forward. He collided with the ground with a thunk. Breathing heavily, he looked to his left to see something brushing against his check. It was long, and tan, with something black on the end. Following it he traced it up to a small torso, and up to...

Dipper paused, shakily moving his hand to poke the stomach contacted to the hoofed torso. He felt the poke on his belly.

"Oh god, that's mine," Dipper wheezed, shooting back into the air. His front hooves scrambled franticly on the rocks, keeping Dipper's front close to the ground, while his back legs shakily remained upright. His breathing got faster. He turned, facing his back again. A small fuzz ball was at the end of his flank. Back. He poked it. Dipper felt the touch. It was a tail.

It was his tail.

I have a tail.

"Ahhh!"

* * *

 

"Ahhh!"

Stanford raised his head. Dipper? He pushed himself up into a sitting position. That's weird… Stan thought. I don't remember laying down…I must have passed out. He pulled off his glasses, wiping the mud away from his eyes. The mud easily came off his glasses, but he continued to try rub it off his face. Is dried on? He groggily thought. Stan could feel his fingers scratching through the mud, but if felt distant. Is it mud? It feels like cement.

Deciding he got off what he could, Stanford pushed himself off the ground. He spotted the moon rising in the distance. He shrugged it off, being that it was still light out. I must not have been out long, He thought.

"Dipper!" He called, raising his hands to his mouth. Stanford heard rustling in the distance.

"Grunkle Stan…?" Dipper called out in a small voice. Stan pushed himself through the brush towards the sound of his great nephew's voice. He found a small ravine on the other side of the vegetation.

"Where are you Dipper?" Stan called. He heard Dipper gulp from somewhere.

"Um… down here." Stanford looked over the edge of the bluff face. Dipper sat several feet below on a rock formation. Stan open his mouth to speak, only to pause. Dipper looked different.

Stan blinked. He rubbed his eyes, then looked again.

"Jesus! What happened to you!?" Stanford shouted, pointing down at the child.

Dipper in turn pointed up to the area behind Stanford.

"What happened you!?" Dipper screamed. Stanford turned. He suddenly felt faint.

"Jesus Chri-" He glanced toward Dipper, terrified and shaking below. "-many."

"Grunkle Stan…?" Dipper squinted, placing a hand above his eyes. "What happened to you?" Stanford raised his arm, prodding the one of the two wings now attached to his back. It moved as he touched it.

"I don't know! What happened to you!?" Stanford asked, tearing his attention from the large wings attached to his back. Dipper glanced down below his torso.

"I don't really know…" Dipper trailed off. His legs shock uneasily. It reminded Stan of the time he found a young fawn in his yard. "I fell asleep and... just found this." Dipper looked up at his great uncle, his eyes watery. "Stan, I- I need to tell you something." Stanford cocked his head to the side, then climbed down to where Dipper was standing.

"Kid, I'm sure it wait." Stanford replied, patting the young deer boy's head, warily avoiding the furry ears. Stan grimaced as he saw his hands. They were gray and curved, with pointed tips like talons.

"No, it can't." Dipper insisted. "Mabel's…" He swallowed. "I lost-"

Stan felt his heart stop.

"Dipper, did something happen to Mabel?"

Dipper looked Stan in the eyes and collapsed into tears.

"We were at the creek," Dipper started. He quickly buried his head into Stan's suit. Dipper couldn't look up to meet his eyes again, so he just stayed focused on his sister's sneaker clenched in his grunkle's hand. His throat felt dry. "Mabel and I, there was a flood. We didn't see it coming," Dipper could feel the tears swelling up again. Stanford remained silent. "It happened so fast. And Mabel," Dipper's face felt hot with tears. "It's my fault Stan. Mabel dead and it's my fault."

Dipper looked up at the older man, tears pouring down his face. Stanford looked down at him with a broken expression. And Dipper noticed something. He didn't notice it before, but he sure did now. Stanford's eyes were a pupil-less, yellow color, and were focused directly at the young boy.

The pair stood there for a moment, completely silent, except for the sound of Dipper choking back his sobs. Then Stanford knelt and scooped Dipper up in his arms. Dipper held his arms out at his sides, unsure to hug back or not. However, before he could decide, Stanford's big wings curled around them, enclosing the pair in an inhuman embrace.

"It's alright Dipper," Stanford assured, sounding on the brink of tears himself. "It's alright." Dipper felt a new wave of tears acting up behind his eyes.

"No it's not!" He sobbed, burying his face into Stan's mud stained suit.

"What's not alright?" Asked a feminine voice. The pair on the bluff both froze.

Stanford stumbled backwards as Dipper pushed away from him, unsteadily rushing toward the edge of the rock.

"Mabel!" Dipper shouted, happily recognizing her voice. Stanford stumbled forward, peering down into the water. "Where are you?"

"Over here!" Mabel called, followed by the sound of water splashing.

"Where?!" Dipper asked again, squinting in the dark. Stanford raised a thick arm and put it around Dipper.

"Dipper," Stan whispered, "I thought you said you lost Mabel."

"I did," Dipper turned. He tried to move Stan's arm out from in front of him.

"Did this happen in the water?" Stan hissed. "Cause you two have been missing for quite a few hours."

Dipper stopped pushing on the arm.

"Do you mean…?"

"I'm not sure that's Mabel," Stan warned. Dipped let Stanford push him back this time.

"Mabel sweetie, are you alright?" Stanford asked, protectively keeping an arm in front of Dipper.

"Kind of!" Mabel's voice yelled back. It sounded like she was directly below them now. "Could you help me up there? I feel tired." She paused, and Stanford and Dipper heard Mabel dive beneath the water. A moment later she resurfaced. "Oh, and Dipper, I found your hat! It's sort of soggy though." Stan and Dipper exchanged glances.

"Mabel sweetie, can you move where we can see you?" Stan announced. The voice sighed, then fell silent. A few moments passed.

"Did she leave?" Dipper wondered aloud.

The two both perked up at the sound of splashing. Stan shouted in surprise as a wet form launched from the water and clung onto his back.

"Hey, you guy's changed too!" Mabel exclaimed as Stanford fell backwards onto the ground.

"Mabel!" Dipper cheered.

"Sweetie?" Stan exclaimed, swinging the girl of his back. He went fringed as a wet, slimy, fish tail curled around his forearm. "Please tell me that's yours." Stan pleaded, looking away from the wet girl in his arms.

"You mean the mermaid tail?" Mabel beamed, waving the pink tail back and forth. "Look at it! It's fantastic!" Dipper rushed forward, embracing his sister in a hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay." He murmured into her wet hair. Mabel collapsed awkwardly in Dippers grasp, unable to stand up herself.

"Really?" Mabel asked softly, pushing away from the hug while Dipper held fast. "Cause I thought you were dumb enough to knock me out with a rock."

"I'm so sorry. Do you want an apology card?" Dipper joked, awkwardly laughing through a stream of relieved tears.

"Aw, it's alright you big dummy." Mabel grinned. She pulled Dipper back into the hug. They remained silent for a moment, enjoying each other's comfort. Dipper nuzzled into his sister's shoulder, burrowing his nose into her hair.

"You smell like fish."


	3. Of Little Pines and Gargrunkles

Man, love you guys. Like seriously. I want to kiss you all. Stay beautiful! And sorry for the wait. I know I never gave a set time to update (at this point I'm thinking every other week), but I felt guilty after Saturday passed. Steven Universe and KND were happening, and the whole Alex and Bill thing on top of school and speech… I am a mess.

"Are we- Are we there yet?" Dipper asked.

"We're nearly to the yard, kid." Stanford mumbled. Dipper sighed heavily, rearranging the tarp slung over his shoulder. Mabel sat in the middle of the two, suspended in the air by the tarp they had found by the ravine. She held the sides down, keeping water from spilling over the sides.

Dipper panted heavily. His face was drained and covered in sweat. Stanford stole a glance at his great nephew from the other side of the tarp. He sighed.

"Do you need to stop?" Stan asked. Dipper hit the ground before the words were out of Stanford's mouth.

"Hey!" Mabel protested, pulling up on the tarp to keep water from pouring out.

"Why does this weird stuff always happen to me?" Dipper mumbled into the mud. His front was laid out flat against the earth, while his back legs remained in the air. They were less wobbly than before, but they still remained twitchy and unstable.

Stanford picked up the other half of Mabel's tarp, moving it into a knot of fallen trees to keep it from spilling over. He sat down beside the trees, setting himself up so he could see the pair of kids.

Mabel poked her head out of the water. Her hair swirled around her in a tangled mess. She stroked it, pouting as her finger snagged every so often.

"Grunkle Stan?" She asked, peeking over the tarp edge. "Do you still have my shoe?" Stanford looked up, blinking dully at the girl peering down at him.

"Mmm… right here kid." He mumbled, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the small footwear and handed it up to Mabel. She snatched it up excitedly.

"Thanks Stan!" She grinned. Stanford mumbled something unintelligible and nodded off. It seemed he needed a break just as much as Dipper.

Turning her attention to the shoe, Mabel tugged at the lace. It slid out of the shoe with ease. Tossing the shoe aside, Mabel pulled her hair back, tying the string tightly against her head. She pulled it once for good measure.

"Nice." She grinned. Now what to do with the sweater? Mabel thought to herself. She pulled the soaked shirt over her head, revealing the tank top underneath. Mabel gasped. Without the sweater on, she suddenly found breathing much less strained than before. Mabel rubbed her neck where the damp wool clung to her skin a moment before.

"Gills," Mabel stated, rubbing her fingers against the slits along her neck. She could feel them open and close with each breath. "Freaky. Dipper! Dipper, look!"

Dipper groggily lifted his head from the mud.

"Yeah Mabel?" He murmured.

"Come and check this out!"

Dipper pushed himself up, using his arms for balance. His front hooves pushed off the ground first, followed by his backside. He made his way over to where his mer-sister sat.

"What is it?"

Mabel pointed excitedly towards her neck.

"Look!" She dunked her head under the water, took a breath, and resurfaced. Dipper raised an eyebrow.

"You can swim?" He guessed. Mabel shook her head, again pointing to her neck. She opened her mouth and exhaled, which caused her gills to open up, letting water from her lungs pour down her neck.

"Whoa!" Dipper exclaimed. He reached out a hand to touch his sister's neck. Mabel promptly swatted it away.

"Watch it! I don't touch your breathing hole."

"That's so weird though…" Dipper stated, awestruck. "Did you notice anything else?" Mabel swung her tail over the side of the tarp.

"You know, I just can't think of anything. It's not like anything out of the ordinary is going on."

"Hardy- har Mabel." Dipper side stepped, careful not to bump into Stanford, who had feel asleep against the tangled tree roots. He looked eerie in the fading light, arms crossed and face down, like a disapproving judge. "Can I touch it?" Dipper inquired. Mabel shrugged.

"Knock yourself out. It's kind of weird."

Dipper reached forward and gently poked his sister's scaly limb. The muscles in her tail tensed at his touch, but otherwise remained still. Feeling more confident, ran his fingers up and down Mabel's tail tip.

"It feels so smooth." Dipper commented. He lifted his hand, grimacing at the thin laying of fish slime that came with it. "Does your top half come with slime?" Mabel ran her hands across her body, patting each of her limbs.

"It don't think so. Just wet." She grinned. Then she squinted. "Oh my Gosh!"

"What!?"

"Your ears…" Mabel breathed, reaching forward. Dipper ducked as her finger curled around his ears.

"What are you doing!?" Dipper exclaimed, his voice cracking.

"Petting your ears." Mabel stated. She said it like it was a normal occurrence.

"Please stop it."

"Aw, come on Dip," Mabel whined. "You're adorable!"

"You didn't let me touch your gills!"

"Yeah, but I let you touch my tail!"

"Well, the answer's still no."

"Aw, come on! Don't be that way Dipper," Mabel complained, leaning further outside her plastic and wood container. "Stan will let me pet him."

And with that, she reached down, letting her fingers brush against her Grunkle's skin.

"Mabel, what are you doing!" Dipper whispered aggressively.

"I'm proving a point to you!" She whispered back, just as accented.

"You know what happened last time you were trying to prove a point? We all got visits by the sadistic Gravity Falls fairy and you grew a tail!"

"Yeah, so I was wrong the one time," Mabel sighed. Her hand had moved down to the top of Stanford's head, with she scratched carefully, as not to rub the horns protruding from his hair line. "But there is nothing wrong with petting. It's like a little massage! But for your ears."

"No." Dipper deadpanned.

"Dipper!"

"No."

"Please?"

"Mabel, no."

"Aw, come on. Pretty please?"

"No means no Mabel."

"Please with sugar on top?"

"No. Mabel, you're being ridiculous."

"You're the one being ear touchy!"

_"Purrrrrr."_

Mabel and Dipper stared dumb stuck at each other for a moment.

Did you…? Dipper mouthed. Mabel shook her head franticly. She had stopped rubbing Stanford when the sound started. It slowly died down, fading into the sounds of the forest.

"I'm going to look in the woods," Dipper whispered, making his way quietly to the tree line. He peeked under bushed here and there and found nothing.

"What do you think it was?" Mabel questioned when he got back.

"I don't know…" Dipper shuffled his hooves. "It was way too low to be a cat."

Mabel gulped, returning to rub the hair atop of Stanford.

_"Purrrrrrr."_

The twins met eyes again. Dipper nodded towards Mabel, who stopped petting. The sound stopped along with the movement in her fingers. Dipper motioned with his hand for Mabel to start again. She began the scratch the grey hairs on her grunkle.

_"Purrrrrr."_

"Dipper!" Mabel gasped, placing a hand over her mouth to contain her laughter. Dipper grinned back, barely able to contain himself. Stanford continued to purr. It was a low rumble, much like a cats, but lower, and less feline-like and more boulder-like.

"That's so cute!" Mabel whispered.

"Shh," Dipper motioned with his finger. "You'll wake him up."

"I'm not going to wake him up," Mabel reassured her brother. "He's out like a light! See?" She waved her hands franticly in front of Stanford's eyes, flicked his left horn, and patted his chin.

"Maybe you should leave him alone Mabel," Dipper explained after he quieted down his giggles. "Let him sleep." He padded off a few steps, then slid to the ground, curling into a small ball.

"Shouldn't we get home first?" Mabel asked, swimming to the top of her enclosure. Dipper remained motionless. "I thought you said monster's came out here at night." Dipper raised his head up. He said nothing, but his face said it all.

"Stan!" He called, pushing himself up quickly. His front hooves tangled, and his front came colliding with the mud.

"Dipper!" Mabel exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

Dipper pushed himself up, slower this time, and shakily came to a stand. His front was covered in mud and water, which had puddled up in the earth. He shacking as he made his way over to his sister.

"Yeah," he mumbled. Mabel reached forward, rubbing some filth from Dipper's chest. She grimaced. Her cold hands only caused him to shiver more.

"Sorry," She apologized.

"It's not your fault," Dipper shrugged. "Let's just get home." Mabel nodded.

"Stan? Stan, it's time to get up." Mabel cooed, turning her attention to her other family member. She shook his shoulder gently.

"Eh…" Stanford moaned, turning his shoulder away from the touch.

"Stan!" Dipper shouted. Stanford's eye's quickly blinked open.

"What?" He groggily asked.

"It's late," Mabel explained. "We should head back to the shack."

"No." Stanford disagreed, pushing himself off the ground. "No it's not. It's still light out." He held out his hand, gesturing towards the sky. Mabel looked up towards the moon, shining all alone in the sky. It was still early enough that the stars hadn't come out.

She turned towards Dipper, who instead of meeting her gaze, continued to look at the ground. He looked miserable standing there, shivering in the dark. She didn't think he heard.

"Are you sure?" Mabel inquired. "I can barely see." Stanford shook his head.

"Are you kids playing games?" Stanford asked, rubbing his face. "I don't think this is a good time."

"Games?" Dipper asked, looking away from the ground and up to Mabel. "Is he being serious? The moon's out."

"Moon?" Stanford looked up at the sky. His pupil-less eye's widened. "Holy Mackerel."

"What?" Mabel asked, swimming up to the edge of her make-shift tank.

"It was so bright…" Stanford mumbled, unable to take his eyes away from the moon. "I could have sworn…"

"Sworn what?" Dipper asked. Mabel gasped.

"He has night vision!" Mabel realized. She flipped her tail in excitement.

"Stan?"

Stanford turned towards the two kids before him.

"You two really can't see?" He questioned.

"Only a little bit." Mabel answered. "I can see up to that tree over there."

"Dipper? How about you?"

"The tree, I guess." Dipper back stepped carefully. "How far can you see?" Stanford turned, looking towards the direction they were heading before they had stopped.

"To the Mystery Shack." He concluded.

"That far away?" Dipper gawked.

"Yeah, all three trees and a yard. I wasn't kidding when I said we were close."

Stanford laid Mabel down in the tub, which had been filled to the brink with water. It was a little dirty, since they poured the water from the tarp in there with her, but they could clean that out tomorrow.

"Um, can I get you a towel or something?" Stanford asked, rubbing the back of his scalp.

"Yes please!" Mabel smiled, sleepily resting her chin on the tip of the bath. Stanford grabbed a towel from the bathroom closet, handing it to his niece. She laid it on the bottom oh the tub, curling on top of the towel to keep it from floating up.

"Good night sweetie." Stanford tried, awkwardly patting Mabel's back. She flung herself out of the water, wrapping her arms around Stanford's neck.

"Good night, Grunkle Stan." And with that, she resubmerged beneath the water. Stanford stepped out of the room, clicking off the light and cracking the door. He made his way up the stairs and into the attic. He found Dipper laying awkwardly across his bed.

"Hey Dipper," Began Stanford, sitting on the mattress beside him. "How are you taking all this?"

"My rear end is a dear's butt." Dipper deadpanned.

"Well, it could be worse," Stanford commented. "You could be stuck in the bathtub like your sister."

"I'm not joking Stan. I thought I got Mabel killed today. And it's all my fault. If I didn't go hunting for that stupid creek, Mabel would be sleeping in a bed, I could walk straight, and you wouldn't look like an exhibit from the gift shop." Stanford remained silent for a moment, unsure how to answer.

"Well, you should seen some off the stuff me and Sta- me and your grandfather used to get into." Dipper open his mouth to protest, but Stanford raised an arm to silence him. "But you know what was different between this and then? We did it on purpose. Or rather one of us did. But you didn't. You weren't trying to hurt anyone. Therefore, as far as I am concerned, none of this was your fault. And your sister doesn't think so either."

"…Thanks Stan." Dipper sniffed.

"Don't mention it kid." Stan pulled the sheets over on Dipper's bed, doing his best to cover the child up. He stood up and walked over to the bedroom door.

"Grunkle Stan?"

"Yeah Dipper?" Stanford turned, his hand held over the door knob.

"Goodnight."

Stanford smiled, turning off the bedroom light. The room was still illuminated by the light coming from the hallway.

"Goodnight kid."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading! For the full (or at least the currently posted) version of this story, please let me know if you're interested in the rest so I can know to post it here!


	4. Milk Cartons: A Great Source of Calcium!

AN/

Hey followers!

Just have some little notes I thought I'd let you all know.

-No major romantic themes will be in this series. There may be a small subplot with Mabel, because she still gets crushes (because she's still Mabel), or if Robbie and Tambry appear, because it's canon (nothing big, maybe just a cute moment or two). If anything changes, I'll let you know beforehand.

-At this point and time, this story takes place before  _ Not what He Seems,  _ and after  _ Northwest Mystery Manor. _

That is all! Enjoy!

Dipper rolled over, tugging at his sheets. Yellow eyed monsters and dark waters had filled his nightmares. But he couldn't help but feel weird about them. None of the dreams kept him particularly afraid. In fact, he felt rather… calm. He burrowed further into the blanket cocoon. He remembered a little mermaid girl was there, as well as a large creature with big wings made out of stone. But on top of that, Dipper remembered looking at that all through the eyes of a cervitaur.

Yes, a cervitaur. Dipper was quite proud of knowing the name to the deer like creature after long nights of studying it and other monsters like it in the journal. He also knew the name of the stone creature, which happened to be a gargoyle.

Dipper rubbed his face, wiping the sleepiness from it. The blankets felt warm and comforting, but he decided to get up. Light was streaming through the stained glass window, brightening the room.

"Hey Mabel," Dipper said, pushing himself up to face his sister. His legs were still covered by the blankets. "You wouldn't believe the dream I had… Mabel?" He looked around the room, not spotting his sister. She wasn't in her bed, which was still covering in knitting supplies from the day before.

"What…?" Dipper mouthed. He began to push himself out of bed, only to stop. "Why do my legs feel so heavy?" He blinked. The morning fogginess began to clear his mind. Yesterday wasn't a dream.

Dipper pulled off the sheets and looked down at his legs. The legs still belonged to a deer. He poked them. They were still his.

"Of course." Dipper muttered, carefully climbing out of bed. He stumbled a bit on the floor, but quickly regained balance. He pulled on his hat, which was seated on his bed post, and made his way down stairs.

"Morning Stan," Dipper announced as he reached the bottom of the staircase. Stanford remained motionless in his recliner, still wearing the same muddy suit from last night. "Stan?" Dipper tried again, inching towards his grunkle. Stanford appeared to be asleep. But something looked wrong. Unable to decipher what it was, Dipper reached forward and placed a hand on Stanford's hand. It felt like solid stone. No, not like it did before. Before, Stanford's skin felt… real. You could feel it, the stone, but at the same time, you could tell it was skin and capable of moving. But know, it just felt… solid.

"Grunkle Stan?!" Dipper tried again, unsuccessfully attempting to shake Stanford's knee. Stanford remained still. Dipper looked up at his grunkle. And it hit him. Why he looked so strange. There was no rise and fall to his chest. Dipper stumbled in a panic.  _ Grunkle Stan's not breathing!  _ Dipper thought to himself.  _ What do I do?! What do I do?!  _ Unable to think of anything else, Dipper scrambled to the kitchen and pulled a gallon of milk from the fridge. He raced back to the living room, throwing the liquid at Stanford.

"Gah!" Stanford yelled, shaking back to life. Dipper sighed with relief. "What to heck kid!?" Stanford demanded, pulling off his now even more soiled jacket. Dipper just smiled, legs shaking, as he slid to the floor, empty milk jug in hand.

"Dipper!" Stanford quite literally growled.

"I thought you died." Dipper stated. He looked dumbfounded at his great uncle. "I thought you died, so I dumped a gallon of milk on your head." Stanford pinched his nose.

"Excuse me?"

Dipper broke out laughing, clutching his chest with one hand, using the other to keep him from collapsing on the floor.

"Y-you turned to stone, so I freaked out." Dipper gasped through his maniac-tic laughter. "But you've turned into a gargoyle, so why wouldn't you!"

Stanford pulled off his fez, rubbing his hair back.

"Dipper, I think all this stuff is getting to you." He shuffled nervously as Dipper tried to contain himself. "Did you really think I died?"

Dipper nodded, emitting the last of his giggles.

"You looked like a statue. But I think were just asleep." Stanford nodded, looking nervously towards the far wall. Dipper looked at his uncle. He looked genuinely terrified. Who knew what was going through his head.

"This is all so ridiculous," Dipper spoke up, breaking the silence. "How does this even happen!?" Stanford shook his head, breaking his trance.

"You know what kid, that's a  _ great _ question. You mind elaborating what you and your sister were doing yesterday?" Dipper gulped, then began retelling the story. Stan nodded here and there, constantly asking questions. Dipper kind of wondered if Stan had been there before. Stanford raised an eyebrow skeptically when Dipper finished his story.

"So, what you saying is you two kids went to a possibly dangerous location full of monsters all by yourselves, all so you could look at fairies?"

"Well, that's not how it really went down…" Dipper shrugged, grinning stupidly.

"Oh god." Stanford moaned, dragging his hands down his face. Dipper blushed.  _ Quick, change to subject!  _ Screamed the voice inside his head. Dipper could only assume it was his ego.

"What are we going to do Soos and Wendy?" Dipper asked. Stanford's face changed, turning into a thoughtful ponder.  _ Yes! _ Screamed his inner voice.  _ The subject change was successful! _

"I guess I can just give them the week off," Stanford noticeably winced a little. "And close the mystery shack until we figure this all out." Dipper nodded in agreement.

"What are you going to tell Wendy and Soos?" Dipper asked, pushing himself off the floor and into a stance. Stanford stared in interest as he did so.

"I'll probably just tell them that we all got the flu." Stanford pronounced, waving off the question. Then he paused. "But Soos would probably insist on checking in on us." He froze, thinking for a moment. "Darn Soos and his good nature. I guess we'll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it." Dipper frowned.

"Why don't we just tell him?" Dipper questioned. "It's not we don't trust him."

"I'm sure we can figure this out beforehand kid," Stanford explained. "And besides, this is really something you can explain without a freak out."

Dipper sighed, but unable to find an argument, remained silent. Dipper and Stanford stood in silence for a few moments. Stanford began to settle back into his chair when a repetitive  _ thud _ began to run through the house.

"What on earth?" Stanford mumbled, looking up at the ceiling.

"Is that coming from the bathroom?" Dipper questioned. Stanford and Dipper met gazes for a moment before heading up the staircase and into the second floor bathroom. "Mabel?" Dipper asked, peeking his head into the bathroom. He blinked, then turned around to face grunkle Stan.

"Well, what is it?" Stanford questioned. Dipper sighed, then trough open the bathroom door. Stanford blinked a moment before pinching the bridge of his nose. "You know what?" He announced. "I'm calling Soos. Entertain your sister." And with that, he excused himself and made his way towards the staircase. Dipper stood in the doorway to the bathroom, unsure how to proceed. Finally, he stepped forward, setting next to his sister.

"Hey Mabel," Dipper announced. He wasn't sure if Mabel could hear him, so he spoke with his voice raised.

"Good morning Dipper," Mabel replied, her tail twitching as she realized she wasn't alone in the bathroom. She stopped beating on the bathroom floor with her fist, silencing the constant thumping. Her other hand was rested on Waddles, who rubbed affectionately against his owner. The pig seem concerned for her. Mabel remained silent in the midst of it all. Dipper leaned back against the bathroom wall, stretching his legs out.

"So…" Dipper started, scouting closer to his sister. "Do you want to tell me what happened, or do you want me to guess how you got your head stuck in the toilet?"


	5. Am I a man? Or a Clay Golem?

 

"Mabel?" Dipper tried again. "Come on. Tell me what happened."

Dipper paused as he heard a scuffled sound come from his sister. He blinked.  _ Was that a sniffle? Everything sounds weird coming out of a toilet. _

"I was trying to get to the sink," Replied Mabel's distorted voice. "So I could get to the mirror and look at my gills." She paused to try and tug herself loose. "But I missed."

"Missed?" Dipper echoed. "What were you trying to do, jump for it?" He waited. His sister fell silent. "Mabel!"

"What?!" Mabel exclaimed, "I wasn't going to ask for help just to look in the mirror! I'm not helpless!"

"Says the girl with her head stuck in the toilet," Dipper scoffed. Mabel's tail swished around, slapping Dipper in the shoulder. "Ow! What the heck Mabel! That thing hurts!" 

"Well, my dignity hurts," Mabel stated, turning her attention to trying to pry herself loose. "It's hard to jump around without legs you know." Her tail continued to swish back and forth along the bathroom tiles.

Dipper stared at her tail, not sure how to continue conversation. It gleamed brightly with water, shining brightly against her scales.

_ Scales _ . The word bounced around inside Dipper's head. Just thinking it felt unnatural.  _ My sister's got scales. And a tail. _ He continued to stare at Mabel's tail, watching as it rhythmically swayed back and forth. Almost by habit, Dipper readjusted himself so that his flank rested against Mabel's tail.

"Mabel, I promise I'll fix this," he whispered, laying down and curling into a ball. "I don't know how, but I'm gonna fix it."

The bathroom turned quiet.

"What did you say?!"

* * *

 

Stanford sat in his recliner, mindlessly playing with the cord connected the phone resting in his lap.

_ The kid thought I died, _ He paused, squeezing the cord between his thumb and middle finger.  _ Poor Dipper. How long did he try and get me to wake up?  _ Stanford twirled the wire, intertwining it in his fingers. _ Not too long I hope. He's already spooked enough.  _ He slumped back, letting his head rest against the chair. He sat there for a few moments, gazing up at the ceiling. He let his mind wander.  _ How long until this wears off?  _ He pondered. Stanford dropped the wire, taking the chance to stare at his hand.

He opened and closed his palm. Open. Closed. Open. Closed. It looked so unreal. But at the same time, staggeringly real. Open. Closed. Open. Closed. It was unsettling to Stanford how just thinking about the change spooked him. Sure, he was putting a brave face on for the kids, but behind closed doors, Stanford was terrified. Not just scared, but bone deep terrified.

It wasn't long until a knock at the door interrupted his train of thought. Stanford stayed still, waiting for the second knock.

"Mr. Pines?" called Soos's voice from behind the door. "Could you open the door? You locked it."

Stanford relaxed, releasing the breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Coming Soos," He grumbled, pushing himself out of the chair. Stanford reached the door, pausing as his hand was about to close around the knob. Something fluttered in his gut, keeping him from opening the door.

"Mr. Pines?" Soos called out again. "Are you alright?" Stanford shook his head, attempting to dismiss the strange feeling.

"Yeah," Came his flustered reply. "Fine as I'm going to be." Stanford cracked open the door, looking out so only his eyes were visible.

"Hi Mr. Pines!" Soos grinned, tool box in hand. "You said you had some problems with the piping?"

"Among other things," Stanford grumbled. Soos smiled, swinging his tool box to his opposite hand. Stanford continued to stare at him through the cracked door. The pair of them stood in silence for a moment.

"So… Are you going to let me in?" Soos asked.

"Sure," Stanford replied. He kept the door cracked.

"Um…" Soos stood awkwardly on the front step. "Is something else wrong dude?" Waiting a moment and not receiving a reply, Soos reached forward, placing his hand on the door knob. A low rumble sounded from behind the door. Soos recoiled. He blinked in realization.

"Mr. Pines?" Soos asked, concern creeping into his face. "Did you just growl at me?"

"…Maybe," Stanford answered. He sounded confused, but stayed steading in his position.

Soos reached forward again, ignoring Stanford's growl, and shoved the door open. Instinctively, Stanford pushed forward, placing himself between the door frames. His mouth was pulled back in a snarl, eye's glowering towards the visitor. Taken a back, Soos fell backwards, dropping his tool box. The tools scattered across the pavement. He scrambled back in panic, reaching for a stray wrench and holding it in from of himself like a poor man's weapon. In the midst of his panic, he blinked in realization.

"Mr. Pines?" He managed, pushing himself up. Stanford continued to growl in the door way. "What happened to you?" Stanford blinked, washing the maliciousness from his eyes.

"S-Soos?" He stammered, the last of the defensive features disappearing from his body. He let go of the doorway, leaving five little holes where his claws had dug into the wood.

"Dude," Soos nervously breathed. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Stanford replied. "Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing to worry about."

Soos bent over, quickly picking up his loose tools and returning them to his tool box.

"Are you sure boss?" Soos asked. "You seem pretty spooked."

"I said I'm fine, Soos." Stanford muttered, running his fingers threw his hair. "I'm just fine."

Soos raised an eyebrow skeptically, but said nothing. Placing the last of his tools back into his tool box, Soos stood up.

"Can I come in?" He asked, carefully staying out of arm distance from Stanford.

"Yeah, of course," Stanford murmured, stepping back so Soos could step inside. "The kids need you upstairs." He began to walk away when Soos spoke up.

"Aren't you coming?"

"No," Stanford shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

"Are you sure mister Pines?" Soos frowned.

"Yes."

Stanford walked away, but stopped in the doorway to the kitchen.

"Would you do me a favor Soos?"

"Yeah Mr. Pines?" Soos perked up.

"Don't tell the kids about this." Stanford finished before sulking of to the kitchen. Soos watched as he turned around the corner, mumbling something underneath his breath.

"Poor Mr. Pines," Soos sighed, stepping up the stairs. "I hope he's alright." He paused to slap his forehead. "Why didn't I ask what happened! Stupid!"

Reaching the top of the staircase, Soos stopped. Stan disappeared before Soos had a chance to ask him where to go.  _ Probably something else I should have asked. Well,  _ Soos reasoned,  _ He did say the kids needed me. _

"Mabel!" Soos called. "Dipper!" He heard some sound coming from down the hall. Following the noise, he slowly deciphered what it was as he got closer.

A soft snoring echoing through the upper floors. Soos grinned, recognizing the hollow tell-tale echo of the bathroom. He approached the room, finding the door wide open.

"Hello!" He beamed, poking his head around the corner. "What seems to be…," He trailed off, noticing the state of the two children before him. Or, at least who he thought were the children he knew. A large pink tail was protruding from the toilet, occasionally swishing across the floor. It turned to a tannish skin color half way up the body. Dipper, who Soos recognized from the pine tree printed hat resting upon his head, laid down on the floor, with the rear end of a dear covering his backside.

Dipper's ears perked up as Soos approached, twitching slightly at every footstep. He raised his head up, groggily wiping the sleepiness from his eyes.

"Huh?" Dipper mumbled, only half awake. "Who's there?" Shaking off the surprise, Soos stepped forward, sitting down beside the half-deer.

"Hey Dude," Soos replied. "How's it going?"

Dipper blinked, then sat up to sit eye level with Soos.

"Good, I guess." Dipper shrugged.

"That's good." Soos agreed, nodding approvingly. Dipper sat still, feeling suddenly subconscious about his back side. He pulled down on his hat, covering his long ears. Soos glanced over, noticing as dipper scooted over to block view of his four legged side.

"Naw, come on Dipper. Don't be like that. We're friends, remember?" Dipper started to shy away, but stopped and smiled back a Soos.

"Yeah." Dipper paused, letting go of is hat. "Yeah. Totally Soos." He repeated with more confidence.

"Awesome!" Soos grinned. Then he flipped his hat up with his thumb, nodding towards Mabel.

"What happened with THE fish?"

"Um… Mabel had some issues with the toilet." Dipper explained. "And now she's stuck."

"Who are you talking to?" Mabel's asked, her voice echoing strangely throw the pipes.

"Hey dude,"

"Soos! Dipper, is that Soos? Hey Soos! How's it hanging?"

"Pretty good," Soos replied casually. "How's it with you?"

"Not bad. I just fell asleep in a toilet, but hey, life experiences, you know."

"Indeed," Soos nodded. Mabel's arms began to push against the toilet bowl, trying to force her noggin out.

"Um… Could I get some help?"

"Oh yeah!" Soos bonked his forehead with his palm. "Mr. Pines said there was something wrong with the pipes." He scrambled out into the hall, then returned a moment later with his red box full of tools. "Time to get to work dudes."

Dipper stood up, making way for Soos to get to the toilet. Soos picked up Mabel's tail, holding it up to get a look at the shiny white surface of the toilet.

"You mind holding this dude?" Soos asked, placing the bundle of scaled into Dipper's hands. Soos bent over and began to get to work.

"So, this isn't a normal occurrence for you dudes, is it?" Soos asked after a while.

"You mean the monster thing?" Mabel asked.

"Of course not!" Dipper interjected.

"No, dudes seriously. You would tell me if you were were-mermaids and were-venison, right?"

"Soos, why would we be were-whatever's?"

Soos sighed, tugging off his hat and placing it on the floor.

"Well, you did close the shack this week end. And you're all related. Maybe it runs in the family."

"Soos, that's ridiculous." Dipper deadpanned. Mabel gasped, waving her tail around in Dipper's chest.

"No less ridiculous than everything else! Maybe we are, but we just don't know it! Maybe that's why mom and dad sent us to Gravity Falls! So our were-gargoyle grunkle could train us to be were-people!"

"Dude."

"Oh my god," Dipper sighed, placing a hand over his eyes.

"Got it!" Soos announced, breaking the conversation. "Dipper, pull Mabel out."

Dipper pulled, yanking Mabel out of her watery prison. He stumbled backwards, collapsing on his hind legs. Mabel tumbled on top of him with a soft 'oof'.

"Hurray!" Mabel cheered. She reached over her brother, gripping the side of the bath tub. Kicking, or rather pushing off Dipper, she leapt forward landed in the tub with a splash. She twirled around under the water before resurfacing.

"Thanks' Soos!" Mabel grinned, reaching out and pulling her two companions into a hug. "I think the toilet was about to kill all the nerves in my neck."

"Don't mention it dude," Soos grinned, wiping his hands off on the last of his dry clothes. In the midst of all the commotion, water both from the tub and the toilet splashed all over the floor.

"We really made a mess," Dipper stated, looking around the room.

"I'll go get a mop." Soos decided, pushing himself up. He walked towards the door, pausing in the hall. Placing a hand on his forehead, Soos began to sway back and forth.

"Soos?" Dipper called, taking a step into the hallway. "Are you alright?" Soos stumbled, placing a hand on the wall for support.

"Y-yeah," Soos stumbled over the words. "Just dizzy all of a sudden."

Dipper trotted over, timidly placing an arm under the larger man for support.

"Do you want me to get Stan?" Dipper asked.

"Naw, I'm fine…" Soos trailed off, beginning to sway more.

"Are you-"

Dipper stopped midsentence as Soos fell face first into the carpet.

"Soos!" Mabel called, pushing forward as far as she dared out of the tub.

"Grunkle Stan!" Dipper yelled, racing towards the stairs. "Grunkle Stan! Stan!"

"Ahhh!"

"Mabel?!" Dipper twisted, looking back down the hall. "What wrong?"

Mabel pointed shakily at Soos, whose body had begun to melt into the carpet.

"Grunkle Stan!" Dipper screamed, full-fledged terror tracing his voice.

"What?!" Stanford yelled, reaching the bottom of the stairs. "Is Soos having that much trouble with your sister and the toilet?"

Stanford looked up, meeting Dipper's gaze. "Kid?" He asked, realizing the amount of fear covering his face. "What wrong?"

Stanford hurried up the stairs, gasping when he reached the top.

"What happened?!" He yelled, pointing at the young man turning into chunky pudding on the carpet.

"I don't know!" Dipper screamed, pulling down on his ears. "One minute he's fine and the next,"

"Bam!" Mabel screamed. "He started melting into the carpet!"

"It's alright!" Stanford yelled, running his hands through his hair nervously. "We just have to stay calm!"

"Calm!" Dipper panicked, stumbling around the hall. "Your employee is turning to soup in your carpet!"

"I said calm down!" Stanford yelled back, obviously not calm himself. "We just got to… to…"

"Soos!" Mabel called. "Soos!" She pulled back, splashing water into the hall.

"Mabel, that's not helping!" Dipper screamed, turning towards his sister.

"Eh…"

The trio froze as a voice rose up from the blob in the carpet. Slowly, it began to swell back into a Soos like shape. Soos pushed himself up into a sitting position, blinking open his eyes to the group in front of him.

"Sorry dudes," He mumbled groggily, "I don't know what happened. Did I pass out?"

Mabel stared, mouth open, in utter shock. Stanford and Dipper shared looks, but remained silent, looking back at the man before them.

"Dudes?" Soos turned around, glancing at the wall behind him. "What are you looking at?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! The two year anniversary of the original air date of this fic is coming up, and I would love to get this fic up to date before we reach the 20th. Sadly, I’ve been neglecting this AO3 location, so if you want to read the completely updated fic, you can look it up on fanfiction. Or you can wait till this one is up to the complete 17 chapters! Thanks again for reading!


	6. In which characters learn things & junk

Dipper paced back and forth across the living room, hands placed on his chin. He was deep in thought, mumbling unintelligible phrases under his breath. He had a cork bulletin board hung on the wall behind him, covered in small drawings and notes scribbled out on notebook paper. Journal number three was placed on the dinosaur skull beside the old chair.

Across the room, Mabel was placed inside the fish tank. It left little room for her to move around, but she didn't seem to mind. Instead, her attention was focused on the two creatures occupying the tank with her. A lobster scurried in a panic across the tank floor, while a little pink axolotl nipped curiously at Mabel's tail. She stared in awe, watching as it followed her tail in a daze.

Soos was sat on the side of the floor closest to the kitchen, sitting upon a pile of wax paper. Stanford was upset at the fact he was completely out of wax paper, but it was better than having Soos melt back into the floor. So there his employee sat, prodding his stomach with his finger over and over while his other hand held up his shirt. His stomach folded and rippled, rearranging itself to form a gooey hole in Soos's middle for his hand.

"Dude," Soos would mutter every so often.

Stanford was curled awkwardly in his recliner and kept rearranging his body to find a comfortable position to accommodate his tail and wings. Currently he was curled up like a lap dog with his head and feet resting on opposite arm rests. Stanford's wings hung limply at his sides.

Dipper stopped pacing and looked up at the bulletin board.

"Hmm," Dipper sighed, tracing his hand along some of the pictures. He plucked a pen from his vest pocket and placed it on his chin. Dipper turned, opened his mouth as to say something, but almost as quickly closed it and resumed pacing.

"Oh come on!" Stanford moaned, "It's been fifteen minutes already! Spit it out, kid."

"But I'm still figuring my board out," Dipper whined softly. Stanford tore his attention from the chair to give the deer child a disbelieving look.

"I've been waiting for twenty minutes so you could set up your dumb board?"

"You just said fifteen."

Stanford sighed, plucking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

"Is there a reason we're waiting for your board?" Stanford asked.

"Yes there is," Dipper proclaimed triumphantly. "I think I've figured out why this has all happened to us."

"What?!" Exclaimed Stanford. Mabel and Soos also looked up at this. "Hurry up and get on with it then!"

"But I wanted to use the board. For presentation."

"Presentation?!" Stanford argued, "We don't need any presentation! There's only four of us!"

Mabel gasped, swinging both of her arms forward. The motion caused a wave of water to come crashing over the chair and onto her grunkle. Stanford crawled over the chair, hissing back at the young mermaid.

"Don't hiss at me mister!" Mabel scolded, placing her hands on her tiny hips. "You can't go around discouraging Dipper's presentations! You'll crush his tiny ego." She whispered the last part.

Stanford rolled his eyes, but said nothing. Instead he just crawled back over the chair and curled back into his previous spot.

"Go on," he mumbled with his mouth buried into the crook of his arm. Mabel detected a hint of a growl in his voice, but didn't say anything.

"Well," Dipper started, anxiously shuffling his hooves, "This all started when Mabel and I went to find a creek in the woods." Dipper paused, pointing to a badly drawn crayon drawing of a creek with his pen. "And Mabel and I both ended up in different spots. Mabel fell asleep under water," Dipper pointed to a print out of the cover of  _ the little mermaid _ , "And I fell asleep on a bluff." He pointed to a picture of a rock. Then he turned, pointing his pen at Mabel. "Mabel turned into a mermaid. And I," He turned the pen, "Turned into a cervitaur."

Soos slowly raised his hand.

"Half deer, half person," Mabel whispered. Soos nodded wisely and lowered his arm.

"Stanford fell asleep in the woods while looking for Mabel and me." Dipper turned to face his crowd. "And he turned into a gargoyle. Notice exhibit A, Stanford's soaked work suit from yesterday! Notice a pattern?" Dipper grinned, making a tumbling notion with his hands. He was met with blank stares.

"No? Okay, Exhibit B!" Dipper turned, pointing dramatically at Soos. Soos smiled and waved. "Before Soos turned into a, a…" Dipper paused, thinking. "Clay Golem, I guess, he was helping Mabel in the bathroom and she accidently spilled water from the tub on him. You know what else was in that tub?"

"The leftover creek water from the tarp," Stanford realized, pulling his head up from the chair.

"Exactly!" Dipper proclaimed proudly. "The one thing that we all came in contact with."

Behind the group, Mabel gasped.

"You mean Soos wouldn't have changed if I hadn't splashed him?"

"Um…," Dipper trailed off, shrugging.

"Oh god," Mabel turned, her face drained. "I'm so sorry Soos. I didn't know that… I didn't think… I'm really sorry."

"Naw, don't worry about it dude. It's not like you were intentionally trying to turn people into monsters." Soos grinned. "Besides, this is actually sort of cool."

"Okay Mr. Presentation," Stanford interrupted, "Did you figure out how to change us back?"

Dipper side stepped, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, um… no…?" Dipper trailed off into a whisper. Sighing, Stanford rubbed his face.

"Alright. You know, that's alright. We figured out the first part." Stanford pushed himself up, stretching his back by arching it like a cat. He reached out, rubbing the hair between Dipper's ears. "Good job Dipper."

"Um, T-Thanks!" Dipper blushed, unused to the acknowledgement from his great uncle.

Pushing himself up, Stanford clapped his hands together.

"You know, we've all had a long morning. Who wants some breakfast?"

"Whoo!" Mabel cheered, nearly jumping out of the fish tank.

"Alright Mister Pines!" Joined in Soos, throwing his hands into the air. Stanford raised an eyebrow at the young man.

"What makes you think I'm making food for you?"

"Because I'm your loveable employee?"

Stanford continued to look annoyed at the young man before him.

"Because I probably shouldn't leave?"

Stanford sighed.

"You're lucky I'm stuck with you, Soos."

* * *

 

"Alright, first round of pancakes!" Stanford announced, placing a stack of pancakes on the table. The trio sat there each took some off the stack and onto their plates. With only two left, Stanford claimed the serving platter as his own.

Dipper leaned forward, sniffing his meal. Resting his chin on the table, Dipper prodded the pancake with the butt of his fork.

"You all right Dipper?" Mabel asked, swallowing her first mouthful. She was seated at the table with a bucket of water placed beside her in case she felt the need to breath with some water in her gills. "I thought you loved pancakes."

"I do…" Dipper mumbled. "I'm just not in the mood." He poked his meal again.

Across the table, Stanford stared dully at his plate as well.

"Are you going to eat grunkle Stan?" Mabel questioned. Stanford poked his food with a curved finger.

"Eh. I'm not feeling it."

"Hmm," Mabel hummed. Taking another quick bite of her pancake, she pushed herself off of her chair and onto the floor. Dipper peered over the edge of the table down to his sister.

"What are you doing?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You'll see!" Mabel grinned back. She began to crawl towards the kitchen door, slowly reaching the doorway.

"Um, do you need some help there Mable?" Soos asked, finishing off the last of the breakfast.

"Please carry me." Mabel asked politely. Excusing himself from the table, Soos pushed past Stanford with his dirty plate in hand. As he got closer, Soos bent over picked Mabel up in the crook of his arm.

"Onward, to the kitchen!" Mabel giggled, finger pointed to the sky.

"Onward!" Soos echoed, kicking the kitchen door open with his foot.

Once inside the kitchen, Soos placed his plate down on a stack of dirty dishes beside the sink. Mabel squirmed out of his grasp and onto the counter.

"Alright, so what's the plan dude?" Soos asked, rubbing his hands together. The motion turned out awkward as his gooey hands just mushed together. He pulled them apart, then breathed a breath of relief when the twisted back into a general hand like shape.

Mabel began to push herself over the fridge.

"Well, you know how deer only eat plants? I was think maybe that's why Dipper wasn't eating. Probably Grunkle Stan too. Except with meat." She turned towards Soos. "I mean, did you see those teeth!" Mabel continued to make growl face, using her fingers to symbolize fangs.

Soos laughed, then walked over the fridge. He open it up and began to scour the shelves. Mabel peeked over the door.

"Wow, do you dudes have any vegetables?" Soos asked, parting through some jars.

"Now that I think about it, I don't think Stan ever buys any." Mabel stated thoughtfully.

"Once this is all over, I'm taking you and Dipper to Abuelita's for some real food."

"Aw, come on. Stan feeds us just fine." Mabel argued.

Soos looked up at her from the kitchen floor.

"Really dude?" he asked, pulling out a carton of old mixed fruits.

"What?" Mabel complained. "Everybody has old stuff in the back of their fridge. We always had old packages in the back of the fridge.

"Dude, the expiration date is June fourth." Soos dead panned.

"So? That was last month."

"1993."

"Huh,"

Soos rolled his eyes, returning to the fridge. He reached forward, pulling out a plate covered in tinfoil. He squinted his eyes, reading the label scribbled on it in black marker.

"Hey, this isn't too bad. Think you can run the microwave Mab's?"

"Of course!" Mabel grinned. She began to butt scoot her way to the contraption on the opposite side of the counter. Soos got up and placed the left overs beside the microwave. He then turned and began to make his way towards the kitchen door.

"Where are you going?" Mabel asked. She began to tear off the layer of tinfoil.

"You'll see. I'll be right back."

Mabel watched as he walked out the door. Turning her attention to the plate before her, Mabel peeled off the rest of the foil. Tossing it aside, she placed the platter full of left over ham into the microwave. She paused before she typed numbers into the timer.

_ How long does it take to warm up ham?  _ She wondered. Deciding to hope for the best, she punched in five minutes and tried to listen for when it started to sizzle.

Mabel turned towards the entryway as she heard the screen door slam.

"What do you have in your arms?" She asked, nodding to a collection of large leaves and stalks gathered in Soos's arms.

"Wild Rhubarb!" Soos grinned. He stepped forward, placing the stalks on a clear spot on the counter. "You all have a huge patch of it growing in your woods."

"Is it any good?" Mabel asked, scooting over. She plucked a leaf off Soos that had started to sink into his shoulder.

"Here," Soos grabbed a stalk and ran it under some water from the sink. Then he grabbed a knife, cutting off a piece of the stalk and handed it to Mabel. Mabel sniffed at it. Satisfied, she popped it into her mouth.

"Not bad," She grinned. "A little sour though."

"We'll put some sugar on for your brother." Soos promised.

So they began to wash the stalks. Mabel sat beside the sink, washing each stalk carefully, and then handed them to Soos. Soos, in turn, cut off the leaves and tossed them into a pile on the floor.

A high pitched beep ran through the room, announcing the end of the microwave cycle.

"Soos could you grab the ham?" Mabel asked.

"Sure thing little dude." Soos replied. He whipped his hands on his work shirt and threw open the microwave door. He reached forward, then recoiled when his fingers touched the plate.

"You alright?" Mabel asked. She placed down the Rhubarb she was working on in her lap.

"Fine," Soos called back, blowing on his fingers. "Just burnt myself a little." He then froze, looking straight at his hand. Squinting at it, he and Mabel watched as it swirled into an oven-mitt.

"Nice," Soos muttered. He reached forward for the plate again.

"Uh, Soos, I don't think that's such great idea," Mabel warned.

"Don't worry little dude," Soos assured her. "I'm just checking to see if it works." He quickly grabbed the plate and pulled it out of the microwave. His hand quickly started to turn shades from a tan skin color to a warm pink.

"Gah!" Soos yelled, tossing the plate to the counter. His hand shifted back into a melty Soos shaped collection of fingers. "That didn't work at all! Ow!" He rushed forward, running his red fingers under the water in the sink.

Mabel laughed, covering her mouth with her hands.

"That hurt!" Soos whined, rubbing his sore hand under that water.

"I'm sorry for laughing," Mabel apologized, placing a hand on the bigger man's shoulder. "Let me look at it."

Soos pulled his limb out of the sink, displaying it palm up for her.

"Owww," Mabel commentated. "That plate must have been really hot. Do you want a bandage?"

"I don't think it will stick little dude."

"Aw," Mabel sighed. "Let me at least get you a pack of ice."

"I'm fine Mabel, seriously. I'm a big dude, remember?" Soos smiled, flexing his opposite arm. "Now come on and help me finish the rhubarb. I bet Stan and Dipper are eating the table cloth by now."

"Hey boys!" Mabel announced, crawling into her chair at the table.

"Hey Mabel," Dipper mumbled. His chin was rested on the table.

"Hey short stack," Stanford sighed, ruffling her hair. "What were you and Soos doing in the kitchen?"

"Surprise dudes!" Soos announced, pushing the door open. "This is breakfast two point oh!"

Soos slid a pair of plates onto the table. One landed in front of Dipper, the other in front of Stanford.

"Excuse me?" Stanford interjected. "Didn't I just make you two food?"

"Yeah, but you and Dipper weren't eating," Mabel grinned. "So Soos and I figured it was because of the monster thingy-mic do-bob."

"What?" Dipper asked. "That's ridiculous Mabel. Did it ever occur to you we just weren't as hungry as you and Soos."

"Says the boy chewing on his fork." Mabel replied back. Dipper glanced down, noticing for the first time the silverware hanging from his mouth. He wordlessly removed it.

"Come on dudes, the least you can do is try it." Soos encouraged.

Glancing one last time at Mabel, Dipper reached forward and plucked a red and green plant off his plate. He sniffed it gingerly, mouth open, and plopped it inside. He grinned and his face brightened. Satisfied, he reached out for another piece.

"This is pretty good," Dipper commented. "Where'd you get it?"

"Wild patch of rhubarb in the woods," Soos beamed. "I'll show you later."

Grinning, Mabel turned from her brother towards her Grunkle. She watched as Stanford picked up a piece of Ham with his fingers and dropped it into his mouth.

"Shouldn't you use a fork Grunkle Stan?' Mabel scolded, placing her hands on her fishy hips.

"Shut up and hydrate your gills kid," Stanford mumbled through a mouthful of food. "You're way too young to be my mother."


	7. Chapter 7

 

“Wendy!"

Wendy pulled out an earbud, sitting up.

"Dad?" She called, pushing herself off the bed. Wendy stood up and strolled over to her door. She cracked it open just enough to look into the hall.

"It's time for lunch!" Dan shouted from the kitchen. "Go get your brothers!"

Wendy sighed, unplugging her earbuds and tossing them to the bed.

"Alright Dad!" Wendy called back. She threw her door open and back pedaled to her window. She unlocked it and pushed it open. "Boys!" Wendy yelled into the woods. She heard some shouting and rustling behind the trees before a small red-head poked his head out of the brush.

"Yeah Wendy?" Asked her youngest brother, placing his tiny hands on his hips. "What's up?"

"It's time for you guys to come in," Wendy answered, leaning against the windowsill.

"We're kind of doing something important," Her youngest brother stated matter of factly. Wendy shrugged.

"Well, if you guys don't want to eat…" She trailed off. Wendy proceeded to over dramatically close the window.

"We're missing lunch?" Asked another voice in the woods. Wendy recognized it as her middle brother. He broke out of the tree line, jogging up to the house.

"Hey, wait for me!" Complained the youngest Corduroy as he raced to catch up with his brother.

"Guys? No, wait! The ladder! Guys!" Wendy winced as the sounds of crashing metal on wood followed her eldest brothers Complaints. He surfaced the tree line a moment later, wobbling from side to side. Twigs were protruding from his hair and hat. He pushed his hair up, blinking dizzily at his older sister. Wendy uneasily grinned back, giving him a thumbs up.

"Come on, you're alright," Wendy encouraged. "Just walk it off." 

"Eh," He mumbled, spitting a leaf out of his mouth. Wendy watched as he stumbled around the corner of the house before closing her window and making her way to the kitchen.

Wendy sat down beside her eldest brother. He had begun to pick assorted bits of forest from his hair. Manly Dan walked away from the stove, and approaching the table, unceremoniously slid a large plate of assorted fish on the dining table.

"Fish?" Wendy questioned, crossing her arms. "I thought we ran out last week."

"We did!" Dan answered, sitting down at the head of the table. Beside her, her brother winced at their father's loud voice.

"Could you keep it down? I think I have a concussion," He muttered quietly, pulling off his hat and rubbing the back of his head. Dan continued without noticing.

"The creek down the road was full of fish!" Dan proclaimed, forking a large portion for his plate as he did so. The kids followed suit, each taking different portions.

"The one the flooded over?" Wendy asked.

"There's another one?"

"Dad!" Wendy exclaimed. "You can't just fish out of flood water! Who knows what could've gotten swept up in there?"

"We're fine Wendy," Dan assured her, "The water was as clear as a mirror. Now hush up and eat your fish."

Sighing, Wendy forked off of portion of fish and bit into her meal. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about it tasted… strange.

* * *

 

Dipper sat patiently outside of the storage shed, watching as Soos dug around inside.

"I'm telling you Dipper, Mr. Pines used to have this kitty pool back here for his goat." He paused and yanked a large hose from the dark space. "Hold this."

Dipper took it, draping it over his flank.

"Grunkle Stan kept a pool for that thing?"

"Yeah," Soos laughed. "He won't ever admit it, but he treats that goat better than most people treat their dogs. If you look under the porch you'll find an old heat lamp he sets up for Gompers in the winter. It's adorable."

Dipper cocked his head to the side.

“I always thought Gompers just happened to like hanging around in the parking lot and chewing on tires." Dipper stated. "Did Stan really buy a pool for that thing?"

Soos was quiet a moment.

"You know, now that I think about it, I don't remember him ever actually buying a kitty pool…" Soos trailed off. "I think he always had it." He paused, moving debris out of his way. "Dude!" Soos exclaimed triumphantly.

He reached out of Dipper's view, pulling on something large. Soos tugged it loose, causing the backward contents of the shed to tumble in on themselves. Stepping back, Soos held out a purple kitty pool.

"Ta-da!" Soos grinned, placing it beneath his arm.

"That's Stan's?!" Dipper exclaimed, pointing towards the pool. It was printed with pastel pictures of small ducks and fishes that would right at home in a stereotypical 'meant for little girls' movie. The inside had a swirling pink pattern covering the bottom of the pool.

"I told you man, it's for his goat." Soos paused, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. "But you know, this might actually be that pool that disappeared from my kid neighbor's birthday a few years back."

"Of course it is," Dipper muttered, standing up and forcing the overstuffed shed doors closed. He stepped away from the shed and trotted over to the outdoor faucet.

Taking the hose of his furry backside, Dipper hooked it up the water spigot and turned the water on. The hose gurgled a moment before water started pouring out onto the yard.

"Soos?" Dipper called, looking up. He was met with an empty yard. "Soos!" He tried louder.

"Around the house dude!"

Picking up the hose, Dipper started to walk around the corner of the house. _Man, Soos can move,_ Dipper thought to himself. _I thought Golems were supposed to be slow!_

Dipper rounded the house and strolled to where Soos was setting up the pool. He unceremoniously tossed the hose inside. Reaching down, Soos opened up a picnic umbrella they had set down earlier and stuck it in the ground beside the pool.

"Awesome," Soos muttered under his breath.

Mabel looked excitedly out the window, her tail waving it anticipation. Soos and Dipper were sitting beside the pool as it slowly filled up, occasionally smiling and waving back at her.

She sat in the kitchen sink, quietly fingering the thin fin-like things running down her spine. Mabel was pretty sure it was a fin, but she forget the word Dipper had used.

 _Dorsal fin maybe?_ Mabel thought to herself. _Maybe I'll ask Dipper to talk out his old mythology book and look._

Earlier that morning, Mabel, Dipper and Soos figured it was about time to head out of the house and relax a bit. It had been a stressful past couple of days. All the rain, the flooding, the whole monster business… A long week to say at the least. The only problem being it took to till about noon before any of them could step a foot out of the door. Stanford seemed awfully wary to let any of them to leave the house, especially Mabel and Dipper. It took some convincing, but the three of them finally convinced Stanford to let them out on the promise none of them left the yard.

Mabel thought everything about it was strange. Especially since Stan was usually the first one to let her and Dipper run off to do things that probably weren't so safe. But she didn't say anything. Partially because Soos and Dipper were out filling the pool for her. The other reason was because Mabel was pretty certain Grunkle Stan had wandered off to brood in Wendy's break spot on the roof.

She grinned. She thought of Stanford sitting up there in a pose reminiscent of those old gargoyle statues crossed with a sleep deprived grunkle.

It wasn't long until Mabel heard the back door open. She turned around, rearranging herself to face to hall.

"Hey Mabel," Dipper announced, trotting carefully into the kitchen. Mabel grinned back.

"Hey Dipper." Mabel replied. She watched as Dipper quietly made his way over the sink, ever so carefully setting each of his hooves down as to make as little noise possible. Mabel had tried not to bring it up. Ever since he changed, Dipper had become extremely self-conscious about some of the deer like quirks he had picked up. One of which being the audible _clomps_ his hooves made on the wooden floor in the shack.

"We finished filling the pool," Dipper grinned when he finally reached the edge of the sink. "Ready to come out?"

"You bet!" Mabel grinned. She swung her tail up and over the sink, resting in more of a sitting position than before. Dipper leaned back as the scaly limps brushed against his face. Mabel cocked her head to the side. "Something wrong Dips?"

Dipper shifted his hooves, pinching the end of Mabel's tail between his fingers.

"It didn't really occur to me that you couldn't walk out…" Dipper explained in a quiet voice.

"Oh…" Mabel sighed. A moment later her features lit up. "How about this?"

Reaching forward and wrapping her arms around her bother, Mabel pulled herself off the counter and onto Dipper's back. Rearing onto his back legs in surprise, an inhuman sound escaped Dipper lips.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Mabel yelled in surprise, tightening her grip around Dippers chest.

Dipper's front legs came crashing down to the floor, slipping out from underneath him. His upper half came crashing down after his lower, abruptly stopping when Dipper threw his hands onto the floor, stopping his face from colliding with the kitchen tile.

Dipper panted heavily. He stared down at the floor below his shaking arms.

"…Dipper?" Mabel spoke up, releasing her grip around his middle. "Are you alright?"

Dipper twisted his chest, giving his sister a bewildered look.

"What are you doing!?" Dipper demanded, his voice squeaking through his heavy breaths.

"I figure you could give me a ride to the yard," Mabel shrugged shyly. "You know, because of your whole leg situation. I guess I should have asked you first, huh."

"Mabel!" Dipper shouted. He opened his mouth over and over to say more, but thought of nothing to say. So instead he just turned away, flustered. Finally, he managed out a halfhearted "You're unbelievable."

"What can I say?" Mabel shrugged. "Whoops?"

Hiding a smile in his hands, Dipper moaned. Then he pushed himself up, waving his arms to balance out his sister's extra weight.

"Alright," Dipper grinned, triumphantly placing his hands on his hips. "I can do this." Stepping forward with determination, Dipper slowly led the way down the hall with Mabel sitting on his back.

"This is amazing!" Mabel grinned, craning her neck around Dipper to look ahead. "Onward Deerper!"

"Deerper?" Dipper questioned, looking back at Mabel.

"Aw, come on, you like it," Mabel grinned, patting Dipper's flank. "Besides, did you hear that deer noise you made back there? If you're not Deerper, no one else ever will be as close as you were."

"Never call me that."

"Alright dudes, try this one!"

Soos held out his hand in front of the two children before him, staring intensely at his limb. It began to swirl rapidly, morphing larger and filling in shapes until it stiffened into a definitive shape.

"A teddy bear!" Mabel exclaimed, looking out from the pool. Soos squinted again, and his hand began to shift.

"A Mallard!" Dipper cried.

"Correct again dudes!" Soos laughed, leaning back into the grass. Gompers laid down beside him, staring jealously at Mabel, who sat inside the kitty pool.

"Everything about this is so weird," Soos thought aloud, staring up at the sky.

"You're going to have to be more specific about that claim Soos."

"Everything little dude!" Soos spread his arms wide. "Your half deer, your sister's half fish, I guess I'm part clay now, and Mr. Pines is…" Soos trailed off.

"What about Grunkle Stan?" Mabel asked.

"Um…" Soos paused. He raised an arm to rub the back of his neck. "You see dudes, when I came over here this morning, Mr. Pines met me at the door."

"What about it?" Dipper questioned.

"You see dudes, I don't think he was acting quite himself," Soos began, then paused. "Do- do you dudes hear that?"

Dipper and Mabel fell silent.

"What is that?" Mabel muttered, struggling to hear. "It sounds like there's an elephant running through the woods. Is there anything that big around here Dipper?" Mabel paused, turning to face her brother. "…Dipper?"

Dipper remained silent. His face had turned pale and his ears dropped at the sides. His eyes had widened, along with his pupils, painting a look of terror on his face.

"Little dude?" Soos said, waving an arm in front of Dipper. Dipper remained silent.

"Help!" Screamed a voice in the woods. "Help!" The voice screamed, growing closer as it approached the yard.

"Isn't that Wendy's little brother?!" Mabel exclaimed, jerkily turning back towards her brother. Except he wasn't there. "Dipper!" Mabel screamed as she spotted the back end of her brother disappear into the Mystery Shack. "What are you doing?!"

Mabel turned again as the scream repeated.

"Kid?" Soos called into the forest. The shrieking paused a moment as Soos's voice sank in.

"Ah!" Screamed the young Corduroy as he burst through the woods. Soos quickly scooped him up into a hug.

"You're alright kid," Soos assured. He held the young boy in his arms, holding him in a bear hug.

"Um, Soos…" Mabel whispered, staring at the lower half of the boy. Soos looked down, his eyes widening.

"A manotaur?" Soos exclaimed. The little red head looked up, his eyes red and watery.

"What's going on?" He murmured. "Why's my family chasing me?"

"Who's chasing you? Soos asked, releasing the child from the hug.

The trio fell silent as a low growl began to sound.

"No!" Screamed the little Corduroy, trying to make a run from Soos's arms. Another growl joined the first, higher pitched than the first.

Slowly, a pair of red haired creatures emerged from the woods, hunched low to the ground. They both were canine, but first was smaller than the other. The other was…

Mabel blinked, breaking free from her frozen shock.

"…Wendy?"

 


	8. Chapter 8

“Wendy?"

Wendy turned her head towards Mabel. Her eyes sharpened. Her shoulders lowered, dropping her chest down to the ground. Lips curled back, she snarled at Mabel. She began stalking forward. Gompers bleated in a panic before scrambling under the porch.

"Wendy?" Mabel repeated herself, panic creeping into her voice. She began cautiously swimming backwards in the pool. Soos stepped forward, slowly reaching down for the girl.

Mabel looked up as Soos wrapped an arm around her. Soos stared forward, keeping his eyes locked on Wendy. He picked Mabel up wordlessly, holding her close to his chest like an overgrown baby. His other arm was swung around the youngest Corduroy, who hung tightly around his middle.

Wendy stepped forward, stopping in front of the pool. A long tail swung behind her, close to the ground. Her feral brother slunk behind her. They both stared forward, eyeing the two children in Soos's grasp.

"Soos?" Mabel murmured, wrapping her arms around his shoulder.

"It's alright dude," Soos stated, slowly stepping backwards. "It's all alright." The manotaur in his grasp whined, clutching his fingers around Soos's shirt.

Wendy and her brother stepped forward, each taking opposite paths around the pool. Soos back pedaled faster.

"Uh oh," Soos muttered. The brother rounded the pool first and continued to stalk after the trio. Wendy hung back, stopping when she passed the kitty pool.

The brother stepped forward, gazing hungrily at the pair of kids. His muscles tensed as he leaned backwards. Soos's eyes widened as he quickly recognized the pose.

"Take Mabel to the house!" He shouted, turning and throwing the kids forward. Mabel yelled out in surprise before she landed in the grass. The young Corduroy landed an arm's length from her.

Mabel turned her head back, watching in horror as Wendy's canine brother leapt forward. Soos grabbed the werewolf's furry middle as he tried to clear Soos's head.

"Soos!" Mabel yelled, propping herself up onto her elbows. Soos slammed the canine into ground, throwing himself on top of the boy. The corduroy struggled under the weight, attempting to bite the man atop him. Soos's clay skin kept pulling away, twisting to stay out of the wolf-like jaws.

Feeling something lifting her off the ground, Mabel turned. The youngest Corduroy, the manotuar, was wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Come on!" He mumbled, shaking with effort.

Mabel reached forward, pulling herself into his arms. He was easily shorter than her, so when he picked her off the ground, her tail laid awkwardly on the ground while her head was raised above her carrier's.

He quickly made his way towards the house.

"Where's the door?" He asked. Mabel hung in the way of his eyes, blocking his view forwards.

"This way!" She exclaimed.

Mabel tugged on his chest, directing him towards the patio.

"No!" Soos shouted from behind. Mabel turned. She gasped, tugging more forcefully on the little Corduroy.

"Run!" She screamed.

"Why?" Yelled back the little manotaur, picking up speed anyway. Mabel reached forward, grabbing the railing as it came within arm's length.

Mabel pulled, jerking herself and the Corduroy forward onto the patio. The little manotaur yelped in protest. His hooves scrambled at nothing before he landed face first onto the wooden deck. Mabel rolled behind him.

Mabel lifted herself up, staring wildly towards the yard. The bigger red headed werewolf rushed to the patio. Wendy skidded to a stop, spraying up dirt. Mabel threw up a protective hand over her eyes. Soos struggled in the distance, franticly trying to reach the pair on the deck, only to be dragged down again by the small canine in his grasp.

Wendy lifted her head. She looked at Mabel and pulled her eyes back, hunkering close to the ground. She stalked forward in a hunter's crouch.

"Wendy, stop," Mabel tried, pulling herself backwards with her hands. "This isn't you." Wendy prowled forward, stopping at the top of the steps. She dropped down, preparing to jump. "Wendy, no." Mabel said louder. Wendy's tail swung forcefully behind her.

Suddenly Wendy's head turned, gazing irritably towards the shack. The sounds of heavy footsteps became more apparent a moment later.

"Mabel?" came Stanford's voice. "What's wrong with your brother? He jumping around like a-"

He swung the patio door open, bumping into the shell shocked Corduroy brother.

"What in the-," Stanford muttered noticing first the pair of furry hooves sticking out from behind the door.

Wendy crouched back, growling at her employer. Stanford's eyes quickly shifted from confusion to recognition.

"Is that Wendy?" Stanford squinted. "Don't tell me that she got it too."

"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel cried, pulling herself away from Wendy. "Wendy's lost it!" Stanford glanced back over to Wendy, noticing the feral look in her eyes. Wendy turned back towards Mabel, resuming her hunter's crouch. Stanford tensed and stepped forward in front of his niece. Wendy growled deeper.

"Get in the house Mabel." Stanford commanded. He spread the wings on his back, creating a wall separating Wendy from the kids. The hoofed Corduroy hurried forward, picking Mabel up around the shoulders.

"Let's go!" Cried the little red head, awkwardly stumbling forward with Mabel held out in front of him. Stanford watched them enter the house from the corner of his eye, not daring to tear his eyes away from Wendy.

The door slammed as the children hurried into the shack. Wendy growled with a tone of disgust, the fur raising along her spine. She glared angrily at Stanford's wing, as if she could she through it to the door. Turning suddenly, she approached Stanford.

Pushing up on her front legs, Wendy arched her back, slowly raising herself from the ground. She glared at Stanford with long claws held offensively at her sides. Stepping forward, kept her back hunched over, threatening to dive at his middle.

"Snap out of it, Kid" Stanford warned, "I'll take you down if I have to." Wendy growled back, pulling her lips back into a snarl.

"Do you understand what I just told you?" Stanford asked, defensively raising his claws. Wendy continued to growl. "Guess not then," Stanford acknowledged. A determined grin fell onto his face as he reached for the back of Wendy's neck. "Let's see if you'll let me grab your scruff, Red."

Wendy's head turned sharply as Stanford's hand passed behind her eye. She turned on him, leaping forward onto his chest. Stanford yelled out in protest, defensively raising an arm in front of his face. Digging her claws into his suit, Wendy immediately rushed out and clenched her jaw around Stanford's forearm.

Something changed in Stanford's eyes. The slight shine they had before now shone brighter, illuminating most of his face. His lips curled back into a snarl, revealing long pointed teeth.

Growling, Stanford pushed back, swiping Wendy's muzzle with his free arm. Releasing her jaws, Wendy stumbled back, whining and placing her muzzle in her hands. She turned back to face him, growling louder than before. Stanford pushed himself off the ground.

"Knock it off kid," he snarled. Wendy growled back, leaping forward. This time Stanford raised his wings in front of himself, creating a shield like barrier. Wendy crashed into it before falling to the ground. Twisting, she pushed herself forward, tackling Stanford's legs with outstretched claws.

Stanford shouted out, falling backwards off the porch. His wings flapped wildly, keeping him airborne instead of crashing to the ground. Wendy buried her claws into Stanford's suit in an attempt to cling on. The cloth of the suit ripped, and Wendy fell to the ground.

She barked loudly as she hit the lawn. Her pelvis slammed hard into the grass first, followed immediately by the rest of her body. She remained still after her body collapsed around her.

"Corduroy?" Stanford called out. His wings stopped beating and he clumsily fell to the ground. "Kid?" He asked again. He knelt down, placing a claw on the girl's shoulder.

"Mr... Mr. Pines?" Wendy asked quietly. Stanford breathed a sigh of relief. Carefully stepping over the girl's body to the opposite side, Stanford moved her arm to get a view of her face. Wendy looked up at him tiredly, as if she was on the brink of sleep.

"Are you alright kid?"

Wendy blinked.

"Yeah," she smiled. "Just... tired." She mumbled. "How... How did I get...?" Wendy blinked. "This isn't my house..."

Stanford smiled. He pulled his hand away from her shoulder.

"No, it isn't kid." Stanford chuckled. Wendy looked up at him, blinking slowly.

"I think I'm going to take a nap," She mumbled, each word slurring together. Stanford nodded in a silent reply, watching as Wendy drifted off.

"Dude."

Spooked, Stanford quickly straightened up, turning away from the sleeping teen on his lawn. For the first time, he noticed Soos tangling with another canine Corduroy.

"I don't know what you did to her," Soos stated, "But do you think you can do it for this one too?"

* * *

 

"Are we just going to leave them out there?" Mabel asked. She was sat in the kitty pool, which had been brought in by Soos moments before.

"I think they'll be fine Mabel," Soos reassured her.

"Are you sure?" Mabel asked. "I don't think leaving them on the porch is very polite. Even with the quilt."

"It wasn't polite to try and take my arm off either," Stanford grumbled as he lay in a cat like pose on his chair. Mabel swum around in the pool, reaching up to pat her great uncle's arm. He growled softly, only to let it die when Mabel didn't pull away.

Stanford's arm was wrapped in several layers around his left forearm. He had changed since earlier, wearing a white shirt with his striped boxers.

Corduroy sat calmly on the T-rex head, swinging his hooves back and forth.

"Did you guys call my dad yet?" He asked. He had mellowed out after Wendy and his brother had calmed down, and had started to slowly let his personality show. The young child puffed his chest out proudly. "I want to show him my horns." He pointed to the bull like horns poking slightly out from his hairline. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"Aw," Mabel gushed. "You're adorable!" The little manotaur huffed, placing his hands on his thighs.

"I'm not adorable! I'm tough! Tough as nails!"

"Aww,"

Looking up, Stanford turned towards Soos, who was standing at the base of the stairs.

"How's the kid doing?"

Soos shuffled.

"Dipper locked himself in the bathroom," Soos explained. "He won't talk to me or anything. He's just running around in a panic making all these deer noises." He paused as something crashed upstairs.

"That better have not been the mirror, kid!" Stanford shouted up at the ceiling. He then turned to Soos. "Do you think I should talk to him?"

"I'm not really sure..." Soos shrugged. "I think he needs time to calm down a bit. His eyes were all like Bam! You know?"

Stanford blinked slowly

"Soos, I literally have no idea what that is supposed to mean."

"Ahhh!"

The room fell silent as a feminine scream rang from outside the shack. Mabel looked up and began swimming towards the window.

"Wendy?" She asked.

"Oh my god. Oh my god," Wendy breathed in a panic. Soos walked forward, placing his head out the open window leading to the porch.

"Wendy? Are you alright?"

Wendy looked up at her coworker in utter shock before crawling away to the other side if the porch. Placing her head in her hands, she curled into a fetal position.

"Ooh my god." She mumbled to herself.

"Is something Wendy?" Soos asked. He looked back at Mabel, who shrugged uncertainly.

Wendy lifted her head, staring in disbelief.

"This!" She shouted, waving her arms around. "This is very wrong Soos!"

"Well, yeah..." Soos agreed, "But haven't already, like, already seen it?"

"What!?" Wendy shouted. "What is that supposed to mean! How does this even happen!" She ran her hands shakily threw her hair. Her fingers froze as they touched furry ears. She recoiled.

"Kind of wish we knew," Soos laughed. Wendy ignored him, breathing heavily. Soos eyebrows knitted together.

"Do you not remember?"

Wendy looked up.

"Remember what?"

"Ohhh..." Soos trailed off.

"Soos! What don't I remember?!"

"Um, one second dude," Soos exclaimed quickly before slamming the window shut. Wendy hurried to the window, motioning for Soos to open it up. Soos turned away. Wendy began knocking on the window irritably,

"She doesn't remember," Soos hissed.

"Well I could have told you that." Stanford replied.

"But what do I tell her?" Soos whispered back. "I can't just not tell her what happened."

"Let's just bring her inside and set it up like a group therapy circle." Mabel suggested.

"I'm not letting her in the house," Stanford deadpanned. Mabel opened her mouth in disbelief.

"What? Why not?"

"Mabel, she tried to eat you! I'm not going to let some carnivorous-" Stanford paused as he happened to look towards the window. "Where's the kid?"

Soos looked over his shoulder. "Wendy?" He called out.

Suddenly a small whine rose up from the direction of the patio door. Wendy pushed it open without a sound, implying she had it cracked open to eavesdrop. She stepped forward holding her paws close to her chest.

"I did what?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so sorry for the delay on this update. I primarily update this story on Fanfiction.Net, and I unfortunately often forget to update here. we're currently 10 chapters behind at this point, but once I get a good chunk o' time, I'll try and get this site all caught up. But regardless of the long wait, I hope you all enjoy! (Please message me if you find any major reading issues)

Dipper cracked open the bathroom door.

  
"Guys?" Dipper called, looking towards the staircase. "Hello?" He turned his head toward the other end of the hall. Not hearing a reply, he swung the door open the rest of the way and trotted out of the bathroom. His hooves made a hollow sound on the wooden flooring as he made his way towards the stairs. His ears perked as the soft sound of voices hit his ears."Grunkle Stan? Mabel?" Dipper inquired as he made his way down the steps. Soos's figure slowly appeared at the base of the steps.

  
"Oh, hey Dipper," Soos grinned. He was leaning against the wall the conjoining the entry way and the living room. "How you feeling?"

  
"Um... O.K.?" Dipper shrugged, rolling his left shoulder back. "Just tired, maybe."

  
"Well, that's alright Dude," Soos grinned. "You really moved the second you caught wind of the Corduroys." Dipper cocked his head to the side, puzzled.

  
"The Corduroys? Like Wendy? I thought I smelt like, a big dog or something." Dipper turned his head to the side. "Maybe a wolf? Raccoon? I could have sworn it was a dog smell..." He muttered.

  
"Well, you're not really wrong dude." Soos chuckled.

  
"Hey! Dipper!" Called in another voice. Dipper peered in from behind the divider wall. The fur along his lower spine rose.

  
"Hey man," Wendy tentatively waved. She quickly moved her arm to wipe her eyes, where her red fur looked damp. Dipper's hands tightened on the wall, turning his knuckles white. His muscles tensed.

  
"Hello!" Grinned a small manotaur, whom Dipper recognized as Wendy's youngest brother. Wendy held him in her lap, as if she was holding him close a moment ago.

  
"Dude," Soos soothed, placing a hand on Dipper's flank. Dipper whined, stepping backwards.

  
Wendy continued to look towards him, with a hint of hurt in her eyes, but continued to smile unnaturally through her new muzzle.

  
"How's it going Dip's?" Wendy tried. She placed her brother on the T-Rex head and attempted to stand up on her two back legs, only to come falling forward and landing on all fours. She pushed herself up again, steadying in a hunched over position.

  
Dipper backed up, only to have the way blocked by Soos.

  
"Come on Dude, it's alright," Soos promised. He slowly pushed Dipper forward into the living room. Dipper dug his hooves in the floor and spread his arms wide, defiantly pushing back against the bigger man.

  
"Hey, it's alright man," Wendy smiled. She spread her arms. "It's still me, see?" She tugged at her flannel shirt, which was in reality quite torn, but was still in one piece.  
Dipper lowered his arms, but continued to look uncertainly towards Wendy. Soos stepped back as Dipper walked on towards the outer wall. He began to circle the room, never taking his eyes off of the canine visitor.

  
Dipper stopped as he came towards the window.

  
"Did I pass your inspection yet?" Wendy asked, a hint of amusement sneaking into her voice.

  
"Mmm..." Dipper trailed off, leaning against the window. "I guess..."

  
"Ah, that's killer," Wendy grinned even wider, showing off her teeth. Dipper's eyes widened before Wendy threw her hands up in surrender. "Expression! Just an expression."  
Dipper crossed his arms over his chest hurriedly.

  
"Yeah, I know," he muttered. "I'm just jumpy is all."

  
"Hey Red-heads, your rides here." Stanford announced, stepping into the living room. Mabel was held in the crook of his arm, only to be dropped unceremoniously into the kitty pool as Stanford made his way to the kitchen.

  
"Dad's here?" Wendy's littlest brother pushed himself off the skull and scrambled to the window.

  
"Don't know who else it would be," Wendy smiled. "It took him long enough."

  
Wendy's brother didn't reply. Instead, he excitedly pushed past Dipper and pulled himself up onto the windowsill, using his two hooves to push off of the wall.

  
"Hi Dad!" He screamed, waving frantically. Dipper stepped forward, picking up the red head from below the shoulders. Little Corduroy yelped out in surprise, turning and grinned back at Dipper, whom returned the gesture, ears twitching happily. Momentarily grunting, Dipper heaved him onto his lower back. The pair returned there attention to the window.

  
Wendy stayed back by the recliner, returning to all fours. Mabel surfaced through the water and swum to the side of the pool closest to Wendy.

  
"Hey," Mabel announced. She placed her elbows on the edge of the pool and interlocked her fingers to make a cradle for her chin.

  
"Hey Mab's" Wendy answered equally energetic.

  
"How our brother's take the whole carnivore thing?"

  
"Could've been worse," Wendy admitted. Dipper turned his head back in that moment, only to quickly look away when he noticed Wendy glancing his way.

  
"Has Dipper been this jumpy since the change, or just since I got here?" Wendy inquired, lowering her voice.

  
"Well, not this bad, but your other brother's been sleeping on the porch too, so I think it's more of the whole pack thing." Mabel explained. "But at the same time, today was the first time he went into a full out 'Deer panic'."

  
Mabel paused as an impish grin spread on her face.

  
"You could say his calmer side has been _deer_ -ly missed."

  
Wendy playfully punched Mabel's shoulder. "My god, little mermaid, I'm going through some emotional trauma at the moment. Hold back your terrible puns."

  
The pair halted their conversation as Dipper walked away from the window. Wendy's little brother waved him forward as he trotted through the door, which Soos held open for them. Soos followed them outside.

  
"There goes team trotter," Wendy joked. Mabel pouted.

  
"Oh, sure, you can pun all you want," She mumbled.

  
"Well yeah, I need to express my thoughts or they could worsen my fragile mental state." Wendy stated mockingly. Pausing, a moment, she pulled the her tail out from under herself, placing it on the floor with a look of disgust.

  
"Alright then, you want to talk about the fuzzy situation?"

  
"Not especially," Wendy sighed. "But I probably should. What do you want to start with?"

  
"Oh. I didn't think you'd want to talk about monster thing to be honest." Mabel answered. "Want to start with how your youngest brothers been taking this? I think he's been adjusting pretty well."

  
"Pip squeak? Naw, I don't think he understands what happened."

  
"What?" Mabel crossed her arms. "I'd say he was pretty terrified earlier. I think he knew what was going on."

  
Wendy shook her head.

  
"No, he was just... confused. Earlier, he didn't know why we were chasing him. We stopped when got here. Now that he doesn't think he's in danger, he thinks it was all a game."

  
"Oh."

  
"Oh's right, man. This sucks." Wendy complained, leaning back into her palms. "How'd it all go down for you, Dip, and and Stan?"  
"Not much better," Mabel forced a laugh through the grimace spreading across her face.

  
"Aw, come on man," Wendy nudged Mabel's shoulder. "You know my story, it's your turn to tell me yours."

  
Mabel shifted uncomfortably.

  
"I was stuck underwater for a couple hours." Mabel started. "Dipper and I got separated for a while."

  
Wendy remained quiet, and made a motion with her hands for Mabel to continue. Mabel sighed.

  
"Well, me and Dipper decided to go find this creek..."

* * *

 

"Hey Manly Dan," Greeted Soos as he walked up to the truck parked in Mystery Shack's Drive way. Dan grunted in reply, kicking the door open with his foot. He stumbled out of the truck, holding tight to the door.

  
"Stupid bull legs!" Dan shouted. Soos glanced down at Dan's legs, noticing the shaggy red hair and pair of hooves poking out of his pant legs.

  
"What's up with all the hooves?" Soos wondered out loud.

  
"What that's supposed to mean?" Dan demanded, squinting suspiciously. Soos glanced up towards Dan's head, noting the horns growing out from both sides.

  
"Just thinking out loud," He waved off. "The trip here took a little long, didn't it? I didn't think you lived that far away." Soos changed the subject.

  
"I had to dig out a first aid kit," Dan spat.

  
"What? Are you alright?"

  
"Not for me."

  
Soos turned his head as a face appeared in the back window of the truck.

  
"Hi," weakly waved a red-orange figure. Soos recognized him as the oldest of the Corduroy boys. He was wrapped in several layers of medical bandages, mostly around his middle and thighs. Another stretch of it was wrapped around his forehead. A pillow was placed beneath his stomach.

  
"Aw, dude, what happened to you?" Soos asked.

  
"His siblings happened," Dan answered unhappily. "They knocked me in the head before tearing up my boy's side!"

  
"Wendy kicked the table at Dad while my little brother jumped at me," The young teen elaborated. "Pipsqueak jumped out a window. Dad was... dazed for a while."

  
Dan pushed his son back with his palm, making him fall backwards and out of sight behind the truck door.

  
"Well, that'll happen." Dan deadpanned while shooting a glare towards the back window.

  
"Come on Dad, it's not like they stripped away your "tough man" title. You don't need to be all defensive about it."

  
Dan went to shove the boy back out of view, only to have his son dodge his hand. The boy in the truck opened his mouth and hissed defensively, revealing a long forked tongue.

  
"Whoa, what the heck was that!" Soos exclaimed.

  
The Corduroy boy quickly pulled the tongue back into his mouth. He blinked in surprise, as if he hadn't seen the strange appendage yet either.

  
"Mind if I take a peek at you?" Soos asked, leaning towards the vehicle's window as to get a better look at the boy. His face came to a point towards his nose, forming a short muzzle. Towards the other end of his body, long red tail was rest against the opposite door. The tail had a different texture from the rest of the body, and formed hair free, insect like segments. It came to an end in a pointed orb shape.

  
"Um, do you mind giving me some space?" The boy asked, shyly pulling his hat lower down his face. It bulged awkwardly because of the small main circling from the base of his neck to where it merged with his hairline.

  
"Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, dude." Soos smiled, stepping back from the window. Catching movement from the corner of his eye, he cocked his head to the left.

  
"Hey there little dudes," Soos greeted.

  
"Hey Soos," Dipper smiled back. He trotted up quickly, coming to a stand still beside the truck.

  
"Hello!" Grinned the tiny manotaur seated on his back.

  
Soos looked back and forth a moment.

  
"Where'd Dan go?" Soos asked.

  
"He went over to pick up Wendy and her other brother. He's talking to Grunkle Stan right now." Dipper explained. "Who were you talking to?"

  
"Hey," The boy peeked out the window again. "You must be Dipper. Wendy talks about you sometimes." He held a large cat like paw out the window for a hand shake.  
Dipper's eye's widened at the sight of the the clawed paw. He began to back away, only to be blocked by Soos.

  
"Come on buddy, not this again." Soos warned playfully.

  
"No, no I'm fine." Dipper responded, puffing his chest out defiantly. Placing both hands on Soos's arm, he pushed away and shook Corduroy's hand. Corduroy grinned and pulled his arm back into the truck.

  
"You must be Mitch, right?" Dipper asked.

  
"Well, no, not really. It's just part of some dumb inside joke Wendy's been pulling since March, but feel free to call me that."

  
"Alright then," Dipper nodded. "I'm also up for nicknames." Mitch shrugged, then turned to face the whole group. He raised a hand and gestured towards Soos.

  
"Hey, so I'm guessing you're a golem, right?"

  
"That's what I've been told." Soos grinned.

  
"Alright, so what are you?" Mitch flipped his paw over so he was pointing at Dipper.

  
"Cervitaur." Dipper answered proudly. "You know about mythology?"

  
"Enough," Mitch chuckled. "I went through a bit of a monster phase in middle school. Journals, trading cards, books, the works." He swung his tail forward, grabbing the tip. "Think I ended up with manticore. Missed out on the wings though."

  
"That's what you're complaining about?" Dipper asked skeptically.

  
"I have right to be in denial." Mitch stated calmly. He raised his head, turning uncomfortably to look behind Dipper. "Hey guys." He greeted.

  
Dipper's jumped as a low growl sounded from behind himself, causing him to collapse onto to the driveway. Pipsqueak tumbled off his back and landed with a soft 'oof'." The remaining Corduroy boy stalked pass on all fours before leaping into the open back window of the truck.

  
"Hey!" Mitch protested, pushing his brother off of his back with both arms.

  
The werewolf fell to the floor with no complaints before quickly nodding off.

  
"Lazy dork," Mitch mumbled.

  
"Says the lazy dork who's been laying in the back of the truck," Wendy voiced, walking up beside Dipper. She reached forward and pulled open the passenger side of the truck.

  
"Oh, H-hey Wendy." Dipper greeted, pushing himself off the ground.

  
"Hey man. Hey Soos," Wendy smiled, looking away from her brother. "There you are Pipsqueak." She pushed away from the truck door and scooped her littlest brother up in her arms before tossing him into the back widow with her other brothers. Wendy crawled into the front seat immediately after and closed the door behind herself.

  
Dipper exhaled loudly and placed his head in his hands. He felt Soos place a gooey hand on his shoulder.

  
"You alright dude?" Soos asked quietly.

  
"I'm going to get eaten by the end of this week." Dipper replied without lifting his head.

  
"Ah, come on, bro. Think about the cool side. I'll start it for you. At least..."

  
"I have less predators in my house than Pipsqueak."

  
"That's not how this exercise works dude."

* * *

 

"Hey, Wendy, is dad coming soon?" Mitch asked, leaning forward into the driver's space.

  
"Yeah, He'll be here in a minute. wanted to give him something to stash in our freezer." Wendy replied.

  
"Stash it? What is this, CSI? Are we stashing a body?" Inquired her middle brother, who was laying on the floor.

  
"Dude, shut up." Wendy hushed, motioning blindly with her hand. "Stanford wanted us to hide some boxes so Dipper wouldn't freak. You heard about what he was like when he heard us out in the woods."

  
"What's in the boxes?" Pipsqueak asked. His hooves dangled freely below his seat beside Mitch.

  
"Oh..." Mitch uttered in realization as he watched Dan exit the Mystery Shack with a medium sized box tucked under his arm beyond Dipper and Soos. The large writing on the Box disappeared as Dan turned the written side to face his ribs.

  
"Yeah," Wendy agreed while playing with the dials on the dash.

  
"What is it?" Asked the Corduroy on the floor. Mitch lay down again, out of sight from the window, as if he was scared of being heard by the pair out side the window.

  
"A box of venison."


	10. Nightmares

_ Mabel opened her eyes to darkness. _

What...? _ Mabel thought, twisting her body around. She had enough room to move freely, but her limbs felt numb and detached. And her head… _

_ Mabel went to move a stiff arm to her forehead. Something resisted her moment in the dark, making it feel like she was trapped in a bottle of syrup. When her hands touched her forehead, she could faintly feel a throbbing beneath her skin. Using her hair as a reference point, she traced her skull until she brushed against a large bump. She quickly recoiled. _

_ As she opened her mouth to yelp, a liquid rushed past her lips, filling the cavity. Her hands rushed to her mouth, preventing more water from pouring into her lungs. _

_ Suddenly aware of the wet space around her, Mabel kicked out wildly into the dark. The force around her grew stronger, making her head pound. _

I'm going to drown _ , Mabel thought in a panic. The pressure around her was building still. Her chest felt like it was going to collapse. Mabel continued to beat her legs, reaching out for anything to indicate the direction of the surface. _

_ The air left in her lungs was burning now, begging to be let free. Mabel flailed wildly, feeling for anything other than water. _

Please _ , Mabel panicked,  _ please no.

_ The burning sensation was in her whole body now. It was harder to move. With her last bit of strength, Mabel kicked out with a mighty push. And with it, the last last of her breath escaped through her lips. She watched as the bubbles floated away into the darkness. And just as they disappeared, the water forcibly rushed into her. Mabel struggled helplessly as it filled her mouth, then her throat, and into her chest. _

"Ahh!" Mabel screamed, bursting through the surface of the bathtub. Panting wildly, she eyed the room.

"Oh, it-it was a nightmare..." she realized aloud. 

Swimming over to the edge of the tub, Mabel reached onto the counter and switched on the night-light plugged into the wall. A soft orange light illuminated the room.

Grabbing the counter top, Mabel hauled herself up to sit on the edge.

"That was terrible." Mabel moaned. She pushed a lever down on the sink and switched on the faucet. "Why can't I just have normal dreams?"

Taking a calming breath, she rubbed her face with her wrist. Mabel wiped away the gunk from her eyes and brushed her hair out of the way.

"Gugh," Mabel moaned, slumping against the bathroom wall. "Everything is terrible." Her tail flapped against the counter top, covering it in a portion of fishy slime. The sink was about half full now. Mabel extended her arm and switched off the faucet without moving from her spot.

A loud snort sounded from below the counter, making Mabel sit alert.

"Waddles?" Mabel grinned, peering below. Waddles placed his front two hooves on the cabinet and oinked pleadingly. "Aw, come here pudge-butt." Mabel soothed, reaching down for the pig. Waddles oinked as Mabel lifted him up onto the countertop.

"Did you have nightmares too, bud?" Mabel asked, holding Waddles up to her face. Waddles oinked loudly and licked her nose. Mabel laughed and set him down beside her. "Yeah, I love you too, sweetie."

Mabel winced as a large crash sounded from outside. Waddles screeched in a high pitch before leaping of the counter and cowering behind the tub.

"What was that?" Mabel wondered aloud. Hmm-ing to herself, she dunked her head unceremoniously into the sink to wet her gills. Then she crawled over to the counter side closest to the door. Reaching out and pulling the door open, she revealed a small, red wagon filled three-quarters to the top with water. Swinging her tail off the counter first, Mabel swung it so it landed in the wagon.

"There we go," Mabel muttered under her breath. Pushing off, the rest of Mabel caught up with her tail in the wagon. "Perfect!" Mabel grinned, "Now where's the rope…?"

She peered over the left side of the wagon, then the right.

"Aha!" She cried out triumphantly. She pulled her torso back into the wagon, holding up a length of rope triumphantly.

"What's with all the noise?"

Mabel turned in surprise, making out the outline of her brother in the dim light coming from the night-light in the bathroom.

"Oh, hey Dipper," Mabel greeted. "How'd you sleep?"

"Not well," Dipper shrugged drowsily. "What are you doing up?"

"Ah..." Mabel shifted uncomfortably for a moment. "Bad dream. And I think I heard something outside." Dipper crossed his arms.

"Aren't you the one who always tells me I'm paranoid for looking outside when I hear something?"

"Yeah," Mabel sighed.

" _ Just go back asleep Dipper, it's probably just a racoon _ ." Dipper mimicked, moving his hand and fingers in a motion used to make hand puppets speak. "S _ top bothering the bats Dipper, they're not vampires. They're not going to steal your blood _ ."

"You get sassy when you're tired." Mabel stated.

"Yeah? Is that so?" Dipper raised his chin defiantly. "Maybe you do too."

"Being sassy isn't an insult Dipper."

"I know." He said courtly. "Why you out in the wagon?" Dipper added quickly, changing the subject.

"I'm going to go exploring," Mabel grinned. "Going to try and see what scared my poor baby."

Dipper trotted forward and leaned into the bathroom, noting Waddle's pink behind sticking out from behind the tub.

"Mind if I tag along?" Dipper asked.

"You're welcome to." Mabel replied. Taking the rope in both hands, she tugged and pulled the wagon forward. The rope raised and tightened, as if it was tied to something in the darkness. Dipper trotted beside her, resting his hand on the side of the wagon.

"So what did you hear anyway?" Dipper asked. "Did you hear even more of our neighbors howling into the night?"

"Not quite," Mabel explained. "I just heard a big boom, you know?"

"Like a crash?"

"No, more like when Grunkle Stan found out that family of opossums that moved into the golf cart."

"Oh," Dipper nodded knowingly. "So like a boom, and a whole bunk of little clunk noises."

"Yeah!" Mabel nodded. "Just like that."

"Interesting... Whatever it is must be near the trash bins." He paused. "Do you think we should wake Soos up? There might be something out there. We could use the muscle." Dipper stated, turning to face Mabel. Mabel raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Don't you remember Soos went home last night? "

"What?! Why?" Dipper exclaimed. "He was all melty!"

"I don't know, I guess he was just worried about Abuelita… worrying about him." Mabel shrugged. Finally the wagon rolled to a stop as the pair came upon the top of the staircase.

She reached out to grab the handrail and begun to heave herself up.

"I guess that makes sense," Dipper muttered. "I bet she already knew anyhow."

"Yeah, no kidding. Remember when we ran into her a Hoo Haw's?" Mabel grinned, elbowing her brother playfully. Mabel's whole body was balanced on the rail now.

"Man, that was creepy," Dipper shuddered.

"Soos' life, is my soap opera." Mabel mimicked as she raised a shaky finger at Dipper. “Abuelita sees all, knows all, Dipper.”

"Ah, stop it!" Mabel stifled a giggle as Dipper swatted her hand away. Loosening her grip on the rail, she began to slide down to the main floor. Dipper trotted down behind her. When he reached the bottom, Mabel was already lowering herself into another prefilled container of water, although this time it was a small wheeled trolley with a blue tarp laid inside. She picked up another rope and begun to pull the contraption forward.

"When did you have time to build these?"

"Last night," Mabel replied. "Grunkle Stan helped me set 'em up after you went to bed. What do ya think?" She held her arms out in a showy pose. "I-I'm waving my arms if you can't tell. It's pretty dark."

"No, I can tell." Dipper assured her.

"... What?" Mabel asked in a cynical voice. Her arms lowered to her sides.

"Well, it's like I said, I can see you." Dipper shrugged. "I guess it's because deer can see in the dark. Cause they're crepuscular." He grinned proudly and puffed out his chest.

Dipper froze for a moment, realising Mabel couldn't see him in the dark and slapped a hand on his forehead.

Mabel squinted her eyes suspiciously into the dark.

"You didn't really go to bed early last night, did you Dipper?" She continued before Dipper had a chance to answer. "You found a deer book somewhere, didn't you?"

"... Yeah," Dipper admitted. "But hey, check what I found out!" He hurriedly trotted toward his sister and lowered himself in a bow. Mabel shifted uncomfortably as she was unaware what was happening in the dark room.

"Touch my head." Dipper announced with an uncontained amount of giddiness

"Um, ok," Mabel responded and she reached out and rubbed his messy hair.

"Did you feel 'em?"

"Feel what?"

Dipper sighed, exasperated, and reached up and grabbed Mabel's hand.

"Here," He answered, moving Mabel's hand to just above the hair around his forehead. "Do you feel them now?"

Mabel fell silent as her hand brushed over a pair of hard, fuzzy lumps on either side of her brothers head.

"Wait…" Mabel started.

"Yeah?"

"Are those antler stubs?"

"Yeah!" Dipper cheered out in glee. "Aren't they fantastic!"

"That's awesome Dipper!" Mabel congratulated, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. She could feel him shaking with excitement under her touch. "I'm glad you're finally get used to monster thing."

"Ha!" Dipper exclaimed "Heck no, I'm not used to the whole monster thing! My twin sister half fish for crying out loud!"

"But you were-"

"I'm excited about my antlers! I finally have a symbol of my manhood! Try and say I'm not manly now, Chutzpar!"

"Well alright manly man, why don't you pull the trolley." Mabel said, holding the metal handle up with her index finger.

Dipper sighed and took the handle up wordlessly, leading the wheeled contraption through the entryway and out the door.

The moon shone dimly in the sky, just bright enough to illuminate the clearing around the house.

"So where do you think that noise came from?" Dipper asked as he shimmied the trolley down the porch steps.

"Uh," Mabel started, "I'm not quite sure."

"Let's try out back." Dipper suggested.

"Lead the way, fuzzy butt."

"Whatever you say, fish breath." Dipper shot back playfully.

Leading Mabel around the house, the siblings rolled to a stop beside the shack's two trash bins. The pair of metal containers were both knocked over, but only one's innards were spilt on the ground.

"That's weird..." Mabel muttered.

"No kidding," continued Dipper. He bent close the ground, dropping too both front knees and placing his hands on the open trash can. "I don't think whatever this was was trying to get into the trash, see? Most of it is still in the can."

"Like it was knocked over by mistake."

"Exactly." Dipper nodded. "It almost looks like something crashed into it... Here."

Placing both hands on the cylinder, Dipper rolled it over, revealing a large indent spanning half the height of the can.

"Whoa," Mabel breathed. "What do you think could have done that?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe a deer or something? Maybe something magical? I should go get the journal. Maybe it has something..."

Dipper trailed off into silence. Mabel spoke up after several awkward seconds.

"Dipper? You alright bro?"

"Shh," Dipper hushed, waving his arm at Mabel. His ears twitched and perked up as he pushed up off the ground.

"There's something in the woods." He whispered. He stepped forward and pushed the wagon towards the golf cart, which was parked beside where the yard and forest met. "Something big."

Mabel remained quiet and nodded, watching as her brother kept glancing back towards a certain spot in the woods behind them.

"Are you sure this is something bad?" Mabel asked quietly.

"Of course I'm sure!" Dipper aggressively whispered back. "Why wouldn't I be!"

"No, I'm just making sure I'm speaking with 'brother' Dipper and not 'fight or flight deer' Dipper." Mabel assured him, patting his hand softly.

Dipper stayed quiet as he pulled them behind the golf cart. Parking Mabel's trolley behind the first tire, Dipper silently made his way to the opposite tire and laid close to the ground. Mabel followed suit buried herself beneath the water. She poked her head out a moment later.

"Dipper." Mabel whispered.

"What?" Dipper hissed.

"What do you think it is?"

"I'm not sure." He opened his mouth and sniffed. Mabel casually covered her mouth to help suppress her urge to awe at his twitchy nose. "It smells sort of like metal. I just don't get… oh."

"What's 'oh'? Is 'oh' bad?" Mabel asked.

"'Oh' is very bad." Dipper whispered back. “I can’t smell whatever it is. We’re too close to home. All I small is the shack. But there’s something on it. I think…” Dipper paused and sniffed at the air again. “I think there’s blood on it Mabel.”

"Oh." Mabel answered in horror.

"Very bad." Dipper echoed.

Off in the distance, something starting making its way through the underbrush. Both Dipper and Mabel turned away from each and stared off into the woods across the yard. Mabel reached down and closed her hand around Dipper's. Dipper gratefully took it.

Slowly a gray, taloned hand emerged from the woods, stepping down onto the grass like a paw.

"Is that-"

"Shh!" Dipper hushed.

The rest of the creature appeared from the woods, revealing a gray, stone-like texture. Black clothing clung to its skin, torn and ripped along the edges.

"Dipper that's-"

"Mabel, I know."

A small, dead, unrecognizable and furry creature hung from its maw, ripe with sore, red patches naked of hair. The grey creature turned its head side to side, as if to check if anyone around.

"It's Stanford." Dipper whispered.

"Oh Grunkle Stan," Mabel gasped, covering her mouth.

Stanford stalked on all fours toward the garbage cans. Depositing the strange carcass inside, he got onto his hind legs and set the cans back in place. His glasses were missing and his hair was windblown back, but he seemed relatively fine. He muttered something to himself and leaned against the wall, pinching the bridge of his nose. There was a spot of blood around his mouth and on his talons. 

"What's he saying?" Mabel asked.

"I don't know! Maybe if I just-" Dipper let go of Mabel's hand and began to rearrange himself, jerkily moving each hoof one at a time. When his front hoof kicked out, it slid across the ground and slammed into the golf cart.

Stanford's attention immediately turned towards the twins.

"Who's there?!" Stanford demanded, marching away from the wall with his fist clenched. Dipper and Mabel froze. "I know you're there, ya flea face!"

Waiting for a response and getting none, Stanford spread his wings and took off, landing on the golf cart. With his teeth pulled back in a snarl, he lunged, only to freeze in front on Mabel's face.

"...Mabel? Dipper?" Stanford asked, quickly using his outstretched arm to cover where blood had collected below his lips. "What are you two doing out here?"

Dipper remained frozen, as if every muscle in his body had locked. Mabel looked up at him with tears welling up in her eyes.

"Stan…?" Mabel whispered through a cracking voice.

"Look, Mabel, it's not what it looks like sweetie-" Stanford started. He reached out towards the kids, only to have Dipper spring back to life. Grabbing Mabel from the trolley and swinging her onto his back, Dipper scrambled into the woods as Stanford's hand reached where the pair were hiding seconds before.

"No, Dipper, wait!" Stanford pleaded, meeting his nephew's eyes. Dipper looked at him long enough for Stan to see his glazed over expression, much like a deer in the headlights, before he fled into the forest with Mabel clinging tightly to his back.

"Kids!"


	11. The Pool

"Kids!"  
Stan leaped off the golf cart and took off after Mabel and Dipper. Using his arms to clear the foliage out his way, he clumsily made his way after the fleeing pair. Ahead of himself, Dipper navigated through the leaves expertly, dodging and swerving around branches before he could see them. Mabel clung on tightly to her brother, her wide eyes staring forward. Stanford was moving much slower and was constantly having to stop and yank thorns off his suit.  
"Dipper! Hang on a second!" Stan panted. He stopped for a moment and placed both hands on his knees.  
Am I in worse shape than I thought, or has Dipper gotten a lot faster? Stan thought, taking a deep breath and taking off down the path again.  
He could no longer hear Dipper, and the forest was blurry without his glasses, but Stanford managed to pick up the motion left by the leaves behind the two twins. Stan dropped onto all fours and raced down the trail in an attempt to catch up.  
"Kids!" he tried again. If the pair did hear him, they didn't reply.  
Stan cursed under his breath and continued bounding down the trail. The sounds of the forest were beginning to drown out due to the ever increasing beating of Stan's heartbeat. Its heavy beating pounded against his ears and in his head, screaming for him to stop. Stan pushed forward and ignored it, though he knew he would regret it later.  
But Stan's heartbeat stopped as the unmistakable sound of splashing water hit his ears. Blood turning cold, Stan raced down the path in search of the body of water Dipper and Mabel undoubtedly found. He passed countless bushes, vines, and other plant life on his way, never stopping longer than however long it took to get unstuck from the occasional stray root.  
Finally, the terrain beneath Stan's feet changed into wet, sloppy dirt. Slowing down, Stan watched as the trees opened to reveal a familiar creek before him. It ebbed and flowed softly, slowly carrying small leaves away downstream.  
Pushing himself up onto his hind legs, Stan walked up to the water. Placing his hand inside, he felt the almost nonexistent current push against it.  
Figuring Dipper would have deposited his sister in the water and then taken off on land, that left only two directions to go. Upstream and downstream.  
"Unless Dipper jumped in the water to throw me off," Stan thought aloud. Squinting and looking across the stream, Stanford scowled. He was unable to make out any movement in the leaves from this far without his glasses. That added another possible direction for the pair to have gone.  
He cursed.  
Looking around one more time, Stan tried to make out any sort of movement his blurry eyesight could pick up. Hs turned in a slow circle, making out only green and blue blotches left by the combined colors of his surroundings.  
Stan cursed louder the second time. The twins were gone.

Dipper trotted closely to the banks of the creek, slowly making his way down the stream. His arms had been pulled inside his shirt and were clutched tightly around his middle, fingers grasping the skin below his ribs. Goosebumps had risen along his exposed skin from the crisp nightly cold.  
His sister swum alongside him, pushing against the current, letting it softly caress her hair back and out of her face. Her long night shirt clung loosely to her torso and the base of her tail. Mabel glanced over to her brother as his teeth began to audibly chat together.  
"Do you want to stop Dipper?" Mabel asked, pulling up along the bank of the creek.  
"No." Dipper stated with a sense of authority. "Let's keep going a while further." His voice fell silent and was replaced with the soft clicking of his teeth chattering.  
"Mm… A little further." Mabel uneasy agreed, sparing another concerned look at her brother. She bit her lip, unsure as to continue on or not. Coming to a decision, Mabel swum forward several feet and rolled over, so that she was belly up and her face was pointed toward Dipper.  
"So," she started, letting her hands rest on her stomach. "How long are we going keep going?"  
Dipper remained quiet, walking forward with a sense of tired determination.  
"Dipper."  
Dipper turned away, looking at the base of the tree line with false curiosity.  
"That's an interesting bush." He commented softly. "You don't usually see plants like this around here."  
"Dipper," Mabel repeated, her voice rising slightly. "We can't keep walking forever."  
In turn, Dipper looked down at his feet and muttered something unintelligible.  
"What was that?" Mabel asked, raising a hand towards her ear and leaning towards the shore.  
"Technically would could." He muttered, just loud enough for Mable to hear.  
"Dipper!" Mabel scolded.  
"What?!" Dipper asked, rolling his shoulders in a motion suggesting shrugging without actually taking his arms out of his shirt.  
"We're going to have to head back eventually." Mabel stated, crossing her arms in front of her chest.  
"Mmhh, not necessarily." Dipper disagreed.  
"Dipper, we need to."  
"I don't really think we do."  
"Ugh!" Mabel exclaimed loudly, throwing her hands into the air. "You're being so difficult!"  
"I'm being difficult!? You want to go back to the Murder Hut!"  
"No, I want to go back to the Mystery Shack!"  
"They're the same thing, Mabel! You saw what was in Stan's mouth!"  
"We don't know the whole story." Mabel argued. "Besides, it was just a little animal! The neighborhood cats back home have caught bigger things than that! My cat brought home bigger prey then that!"  
"We're prey, Mabel!" Dipper shouted. "I am a deer and you are a fish! Do you know what Stan is? A deer, fish eating animal!"  
"He's still our Grunkle!" Mabel shot back. "He probably didn't know what he was doing!"  
"He was hunting Mabel! I'm pretty sure you have to know what you're doing to do that!"  
"Stop saying that!" Mabel shouted up her brother. "You're talking about Stan like he's a monster!"  
"Because he is!" Dipper yelled back.  
"We all are Dipper! You have hooves for crying out loud!"  
"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Dipper exclaimed. "What are you going to do if-"  
"No, quiet!" Mabel cut him off. "Grunkle Stan's having a bad time adjusting to this too! Just like all the rest of us!" She stopped and took a deep breath, cupping her face in her hands. "You know what? I think I'm just going back. You can join me if you want, or you can keep going wherever."  
"Mabel wait," Dipper pulled an arm out of his shirt and softly gripped Mabel's upper arm as she swum past. "What are you going to do when you get back to the shack?"  
"I don't know. Sleep probably?" Mabel shrugged. "Apologize to Grunkle Stan for letting you drag us into the woods?"  
"And what if Stan goes predator?" Dipper continued.  
"He won't." Mabel answered.  
"But what if he does? What are you going to do?"  
"I… I don't know, run?"  
"How?"  
"Um…" Mabel trailed off uncomfortably.  
"Exactly." Dipper stated. "Let's just wait out here for a night, O.K.? And we'll head back in the morning."  
"…Alright." Mabel conceded. "Just for a night."  
"Alright." Dipper echoed, releasing his grip on her arm. Mabel pulled away slightly and sunk a little deeper into the water.  
"Mabel?"  
"Hmm," Mabel mumbled, blowing raspberries into the water as she did so.  
"I think I remember there being a pool up here. Come on." Dipper galloped forward several steps, taking the lead. "We can stop there for the night."  
"Wait up," Mabel called out. "I can't see as well as you can."  
Dipper stopped in his tracks, throwing his upper half off balance. He waved his arms about himself, resetting his posture.  
"Here." Dipper called out, hanging his hand above the water so that it hung directly in Mabel's path. Mabel swam forward and grabbed it, taking his fingers and gripping them in her fist. "It should be just around this curve."  
Leading Mabel forward, Dipper made his way around the bend, stopping midway around the curve. There, a small section of the creek broke off, twisting down a small deer path. The two of them maneuvered over a log knocked in front of the trickle of water with Dipper leading the way.  
Mabel followed the tug of her brother's hand until the banks of the creek pulled away from her waist.  
"Here we are!" Dipper announced. He let go of Mabel's hand and walked towards a dry patch of ground beside the large pool of water. The pool extended into an area roughly the size of a minivan.  
"Wow Dipper," Mabel commented. "If I could see any of this, I'm sure I'd be impressed."  
"Um," Dipper glanced to the side of the pool where a pile of liter had collected. "Suuure." He walked over to the edge of the woods and broke off a branch of a dead tree. "I'm going to try and start a fire. Let me know if you find anything dry."  
"On it Dip-Dop." Mabel perked up and saluted. She dived under the water and disappeared.  
Dipper dropped to the ground and placed the branches in front of him. He reached up to his chest.  
"Shoot! My lighter's in my vest." Dipper snapped his fingers. Looking around to no avail, he took up a stick in each of his hands. "Alright, time for my six months in boy scouts to pay off."

Beneath the water, Mabel made her way to the bottom of the pool. Her hands were moving along the dirt below her to guide her along the bottom. As her hand moved down, Mabel felt a slimy substance move over her fingers.  
"Gross!" Mabel recoiled and wiped the unidentified mucus off onto some plant beneath her. The words felt weird leaving her mouth and sounded alien beneath the water.  
"Lawn gnome." Mabel said each syllable carefully. "Rainbow rutabaga. Passionate Pearl." Mabel giggled, savoring the strange sound of her words. Swimming in a small circle, Mabel swum towards the sides of the pool.  
She broke through the water. Looking around, Mabel was able to make out the rough outline of trees near the shore. Mabel moved forward, placing her hand on the shore. She began to move forward, using her hand to guide her toward where Dipper was.  
Hearing rustling in the bushes, Mabel paused, turning towards the sound. She dived under the water and resubmerged to where the sound was closest.  
Meanwhile, Dipper was knelt over his pile of branches, rubbing two of the sticks in his hands together forcefully.  
"Come on," he muttered so quietly it was near impossible to hear. Weak tendrils of smoke were beginning to rise up.  
Mabel dipped down in the water to where only her eyes were visible and crept towards the shore. The rustling was closer. Mabel grinned, preparing to jump out at her brother.  
The rustling was about to break through the trees now.  
"HEY-O!" Mabel screamed, leaping out of the water.  
"AIEE!" Screamed back a feminine voice. Mabel felt a sharp pain spread across her face as a flash of yellow shot out and back into the woods. The force pushed Mabel back was sent spiraling into the water.  
"What was that!?" Dipper called out. He looked up from his sticks on the other side of the pond.  
"You're over there!?" Mabel resurfaced on the opposite side of from Dipper.  
"Who's out there!?" Called out a third voice. It sounded feminine and bold, commanding a sort of demanding attention. The voice sounded familiar to Dipper, but he couldn't quite think of a name to match.  
"…Pacifica?" Mabel questioned.  
"Mabel Pines?" Pacifica replied.  
"Oh god," Dipper murmured.  
"Excuse me?" Pacifica called out defensively from across the dark pool. "Is that Dipper? You want to say something?"  
"Did- did you slap me?" Mabel murmured, holding her cheek in her hand.  
"I'm just lighting my fire." Dipper answered. "Minding my own business and lighting my fire. My tiny, tiny, little fire."  
Pacifica scoffed from behind her veil of forest life.  
"You mean that pile of sticks? Gee, I'd say you're halfway there."  
"Oh!" Announced another voice. Dipper and Mabel turned in the direction it came from, halting their conversation with the Northwest.  
"Ah crud," Pacifica moaned. There was a rustling heard as she moved closer to a cluster of trees.  
"Who's there?" Dipper questioned. Suddenly an orange light illuminated the area around the pool. Poking through the trunk of a tree, the unmistakable form of a young girl phased through the solid object.  
"I can see again!" Mabel cheered.  
"Bravo!" Replied the ghostly girl in the tree, clapping happily.  
"Leave!" Pacifica yelled out, emerging from the trees. Her torso appeared first, followed by her lower waist.  
"Whoa," Mabel breathed, looking up at her from the water. Pacifica's bottom half had been fused together, forming a long python like tail. Yellow scales ran along her body from the tip of her tail to the top of her head. Where her hair used to be, long yellow serpents had been tied back in a ponytail, where several hissed softly and others looked around with curiosity.  
"Gorgon," Dipper muttered, not loud enough for either of the girls across the pond could hear. "Shocker."  
The girl floating inside the tree smiled, blissfully unaware of the conversation around her.  
"Los otros niños perdidos!"  
"We don't speak Spanish!" Pacifica yelled back.  
"Yes!" Answered back the ghostly figure. "Tù hables…" She blinked and floated forward. "You- you speak English?"  
"Yes we do," Dipper answer politely, shooting a glare towards Pacifica. She ignored it.  
The orange girl in the tree drifted forward, stopping in front of Dipper.  
"What is name?" She stated, cocking her head to the side innocently. She looked young, maybe eight or nine. Her hair was tied in a pair of long braids, hanging down to her waist.  
"I'm Dipper." Dipper explained. He pointed towards Mabel. "And she's my sister Mabel."  
"She is tu hermana?"  
"I believe so." Dipper trailed off. "Hermana means sister, right?"  
"Personas call me Nina." Nina called out, ignoring Dipper's last statement. Her eyebrow was knitted close together, like the conversation was straining her. "Is you lost?" She asked.  
"Well, no." Dipper answered uncertainly. Nina then floated towards Mabel, hovering several inches above the water.  
"Is you lost?" She asked.  
"I don't think so," Mabel answered after thinking for a moment.  
"Muy Bueno!" Nina exclaimed. "Y you is no lost?" She turned towards Pacifica.  
"Sure." Pacifica answered.  
"Bueno!" Nina cheered. She did a backflip mid-air, turning back towards Dipper. She leaned in close to his pile of sticks and blew, letting an array of embers cover the dead limbs. Several of the embers took to the wood and initiated it.  
"Thank you!" Dipper beamed at Nina. Nina looked at him with a blank stare. "Gracias." He tried again.  
"De nada!" She exclaimed. Her form darted towards the tree line. Looking around at the trio one last time, Nina grinned, showing of a gap toothed grin. Then, as if some took a needle to a balloon, Nina's form vanished along with the light that surrounded her.  
The group sat silent for a moment, all staring at the spot where Nina had vanished.  
"Did she… change with you?" Mabel asked, turning towards Pacifica.  
"No," Pacifica answered. She slithered forward and sat on a tree stump beside the pool. "But she's been following me around all night. Is you lost? Is you lost?"  
Mabel swum backwards, putting some distance between herself and Pacifica.  
"We should go after her," Mabel continued. "I've never seen her around town before… The poor baby must be new."  
"I don't think so," Dipper called out. He was bent over the small fire, feeding the tiny flames small leaves and twigs to keep it going. "I think she was a Wisp."  
"A what?" Pacifica called out, crossing her arms. Goose bumps were visible across her bare arms beneath her white sleep shirt.  
"A Wisp, like, a Will of the Wisp." Dipper explained. "I think I've seen a drawing of her on one of the blank pages in the…" He looked towards Pacifica. "My journal."  
"You mean those things from brave?" Mabel asked.  
"It's the same principle, I guess."  
"Wow," Mabel breathed. "She was so nice."  
Pacifica coughed into her hand, intentionally drying attention to her.  
"Not that I want to change the subject, but I don't suppose you two…" She shifted uncomfortably. "You two don't perhaps know… How to fix this?" She gestured to herself. The light from the fire was bright enough to reflect off Pacifica's eyes, which cast a yellow glow around her slit pupils.  
"You mean the snake thing, or your personality?" Dipper answered.  
"Dipper!" Mabel scolded.  
"I'm trying to be nice, you dork!" Pacifica exclaimed. "Some people don't actually enjoy being toyed with by the supernatural!"  
"What makes you think me and Mabel like or know what's going on?" Dipper asked, pulling his attention away from the fire. The catching flames were beginning to latch onto the larger branches.  
"Because you two always seem to be elbow deep in this stuff," Pacifica answered. The snakes in her hair were active now, with the majority of the hissing and biting at the band tying them back. "Why wouldn't you now?!"  
Dipper scouted away from the fire, opening up a spot beside the rock.  
"Well, I guess you assumed wrong."  
"Excuse me?" Pacifica circled around the pond making her way to where Dipper sat.  
"We don't know how to fix this." Dipper answered.  
"Haven't you checked that book you're always reading?" Pacifica's voice rose to a panicky tone. "Found ancient ruins or something?"  
"Nope." Dipper popped the letter p.  
"Any leads?" Pacifica tried again.  
"Nothing," Dipper replied. "Heck, there might not even be a way to change us back."  
"Stop lying." Pacifica demanded. Her voice shook, and her eyes seemed to be holding back tears. Mabel swum forward and grabbed onto the rock ledge where the pair on the ground were.  
"We've been working on it," Mabel soothed. "It's just… been difficult. You want to tell us how you changed? It might help." Pacifica stayed silent, staring at Dipper accusingly.  
"Did you fall in a creek?" Drink some weird water?" Mabel tried again.  
"Yeah," Pacifica nodded, turning her torso away from Dipper. "Our well was broken. Someone was supposed to come out soon, but then it rained and…"  
She trailed off.  
"So your parents changed too?' Dipper inquired.  
Pacifica looked down at the ground and didn't answer. Mabel smiled and patted the ground, suggesting for Pacifica to sit down.  
"Take a seat." Mabel invited. "Do you want to talk about it?"  
"…Sure." Pacifica agreed, sliding down to the ground. "Where… where do you want me to start?"  
"The beginning."


	12. What has happened

“The beginning.” Pacifica echoed. She slithered closer to the fire, lowering her torso. Her chest laid out across a large stone much like a big pile of pillows.

           “That would have been when we found out about the well.” She turned towards Mabel and made several gestures with her hands. “A couple days ago the staff found a crack in its wall.”

           “That’s peculiar. Who would have sabotaged your family’s well?” Dipper muttered out loud, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Pacifica stayed quiet for a minute, her eyebrows knitting together.

“Oh?” Pacifica asked in a genuinely curious tone. She shifted head towards Dipper. “I always forget you two didn’t grew up in town. Wells don’t work like quite like city water- no one’s there to do maintenance. They age. Ours has been around since the estate was built- It’s older than a half of the buildings in town. Who knows how long that old thing could’ve been cracked?”

Dipper shifted uncomfortably where he sat on the stone slab. Pacifica sighed heavily and lowered her head back on the rock.  

“My parents didn’t think much of it- we don’t usually drink from the faucet anyways. Dad stormed off to his office after he couldn’t get a hold of the repair company, and mom wandered off somewhere in the east wing. And-” Pacifica paused. Her yellow scales duly reflected the light of the fire, making the trees and wood around her appear brighter than they should have. “And I was tired.” She shrugged shyly. 

“What’s that have to do with anything?” Mabel asked. Pacifica went quiet for a moment. Mabel’s chin was resting on her hands as she lay across the stone slab. Everything below her waist was submerged under the water.

“So you forget things when you’re tired. Like leaving hallway lights on… or to not take showers’ when your wells broken.”

“Oh no,” Dipper sighed.

“Shut up.” Pacifica muttered. “At least I turned the hallway lights off.”

“What happened after that?” Mabel pressed. “Did you pass out?”

“Not yet I didn’t,” Pacifica stated. “I managed to finish my shower and get to my bedroom first. I was able to slip this night shirt on and put my hair up, but after that…”

She paused. “Waking up was a bit of a surprise.”

“Girl, that’s an understatement.” Mabel chimed in. “You don’t have to talk about this bit if you don’t want to- we know the gist.”

“Oh.” She blinked. “I guess you two would have already seen a preview of that performance.” Pacifica chuckled darkly. 

“After I calmed down, I decided to investigate this rustling out in the hall. It took me a couple tries, but eventually I got out there. And… I found my mother. I’m not really sure what she- turned into- or how really. She never touched facet water. Ever. She swears up and down about all contaminants in it will give you cancer.” 

Pacifica paused. Her slitted eyes stared directly into the campfire. “But there she was, with these big wings and claws. She was hunched over an antique jewelry box. The top had been smashed to pieces, and all the stuff inside had spilled all over the carpet- it was unbelievable. My mother was always so clean and proper, yet she was clawing her way through this pile of gold and silver like some raccoon would at a pile of trash.” Pacifica shivered.

Mabel and Dipper exchanged glances.

“That’s unusual,” Dipper finally said.  

“That’s... one way of putting it.” Pacifica tentatively agreed. “Most of the staff was like that too.” She paused to face the twins. “I’ve never been great with monsters or mysteries, but I know enough to know when it’s time to bail.”

“The entire staff was like that?” Dipper questioned. “Your family employs nearly everyone in that apartment building near main street.” 

“Yeah, I remembered that just I was trying to get out the door.” Pacifica stated bitterly. 

“No, most people aren’t like that when they change.” Mabel explained. “I mean, some are. We bumped into some of the Corduroys with that problem. But most people…”

“What?” Pacifica questioned. “Are you joking? Nearly everyone in my house was going psychotic tearing at the walls.”

“Nearly everyone. You weren’t.” Dipper pointed out. “And out of the almost ten people we ran into, only two started out violent.Are you sure there wasn’t anything else strange about the house? Anything at all?”

Pacifica thought for a moment before shaking her head no. 

“What about your father?” Mabel questioned. Pacifica tensed up almost immediately. Her serpentine hair began hiding themselves around her neck. 

“Well, yeah, but… I didn’t bump into him until after I left,” Pacifica swallowed. Then she laughed half-heartedly. “I uh, didn’t actually bump into him at all.”

“What did happen?” Mabel continued to press. 

Pacifica opened her mouth the answer, but no sound came out. She swallowed once, then twice, before she covered her mouth. Dipper laid a tentative hand on her back.

“It’s okay,” He assured Pacifica. “Take your time.” Mabel smiled and patted Pacifica’s remaining hand as it rested on the rock.

Pacifica took several deep breaths before continuing. 

“I managed to get to the front gates before I felt this… tug.” Pacifica paused to gasp at the air. “It felt like a… a…” She bit her lip for a moment while thinking of the right word.

“The ringing of a bell?” Pacifica tried. She was met with blank stares. “No, that’s not right anyway.” She muttered. “It was more like reaching the end of a leash. I wanted to move forward, but there was this sensation of being held back.”

“Like a hand was holding you when no one was there,” Mabel tried.

“Exactly!” Pacifica nodded. “I didn’t see anybody, so I started looking around. And I just happened to see my father in the window.”

“Was he feral too?” Dipper asked.

“Oh no,” Pacifica shook her head. “Not him. He just stood there, this discolored figure in the window.”

Dipper perked slightly. 

“Discolored?” He asked.

“Yes.” Pacifica confirmed. “He was a dark colored silhouette.”

“Just a silhouette? How are you so sure it was your father?”

“I know the look he gave me.” Pacifica answered. “It was him.”

“What happened next?” Mabel pressed. 

“I ran.” Pacifica answered. Then she winced. “Slithered. As fast as I could. The tugging sensation ended as soon as I got off the property. Then I kept going. Eventually I got lost and ended up here.” 

Pacifica rubbed her hands on her face once, then laid back down across the rock.  

“God,” Dipper announced. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Pacifica assured him.  “I’m sure it all blow over in a couple of days.” She grinned. The Pacifica cocked her head to one side, resting it on the rock.  Several strands of her hair hissed in protest. “Oh, hush.” She scolded them. Several hissed back. A single serpent chewed at her ear halfheartedly. 

Pacifica turned towards Mabel and Dipper. “So, what’s your guy’s story?”

“Our story?” Mabel echoed.

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other for a moment. 

“Well, I suppose it started saturday morning.” Dipper started. 

* * *

 

EARLIER THAT NIGHT

 

Stan rolled in his sleep. Burrowing deeper into the battered recliner, he muttered nervously. 

“No…” He rolled over, tossing his limbs mindlessly outwards. “Stanford… Please don’t go…” 

Waddles toddled up to the chair. He sniffed at Stan’s arm, which hung off the chair. He snorted softly. Stan stirred. 

Waddles eyes lit up and began to snort at little louder. Stan grunted as he lifted his head from the chair. 

“Kids?” He called. His face contorted in confusion as he looked up into the darkness. Stan looked down. Waddles had began to nudge his flank against Stan’s arm. 

“It’s only you.” Stan muttered, half to himself. He rolled over, turning his back to the pig. “Let me sleep.” 

Stan had only shut his eyes when Waddles began to call for him again. 

_ Patience Stan, _ Stan thought to himself,  _ He’ll tire himself out sooner or later. _

Suddenly, a Stan felt a dull wave of pain shoot up the lower of his two wings. 

“Jesus!” Stan recoiled. He turned backwards Waddles, who snorted at him angrily. “Did you bite me?!” Stan demanded. 

Unsurprisingly, Waddles didn’t answer. 

Pushing himself off the chair, Stan reached over to pick the pig up off the floor. Squealing in protest, Waddles darted away from his hands. 

“Waddles!” Stan shouted. Waddles squealed angrily. Arching his like a cat, Stan leaped out the chair and landed heavily on the floor. He pushed himself onto two legs and walked tentatively towards Waddles. The pig growled as Stan stepped closer. 

“Come on, buddy,” Stan coaxed. “We’ll just put you up in the attic.” 

Waddles inched backwards, away from Stan’s progressing hands. 

“Got cha!” Stan cried, making a sweeping motion with his hands. Waddles shrieked and darted between his legs. Stan turned, catching a glimpse of Waddles darting around the corner into the kitchen. Dropping to all fours, Stan pursued. Waddles snorted with delight as Stan came sliding into the kitchen. The pig then turned tail and ran around the table. 

“I’m not playing a game with you, pig!” Stan exclaimed. He ran after Waddles, sliding as he rounded the table. His back feet slid, causing his tail to collide with the screen door. It came flying open. It crashed loudly against the outside wall. 

Waddles immediately paused and stared out the open door way. 

“Don’t.” Stan warned. He slowly got up and reached for the door. Then, Waddles bolted. 

“No!” Stan yelled, quickly diving for the pink blur. Waddles darted between his grey arms and raced onto the porch. Stan followed on all fours.

Following the pet into the woods, Stan followed the pigs snorts of delight. 

_ Mabel’s dumb pig would think this is a game, _ Stan thought to himself. He lept off the ground and reached for a tree, gaining a bird's eye view of the forest. Waddles pranced around the trees below him, always staying within eye sight. 

“All right, here we go.” Stan muttered aloud. With a quick beat of his wings, He jumped from the tree. 

For a split second, he felt a rush of night air twisting around him. His wings arched back instinctively, followed then by his taloned forearms lurching forwards. He landed on the ground silently. 

Waddles danced through the foliage several arm lengths away. Stan crept forward. He couldn’t help but feel a bubbling sense of  enjoyment. 

_ I haven’t felt this energetic in twenty years,  _ Stan thought to himself. He prowled forward like a silent predator, moving steadily. Stan lowered his back and arched his spine. 

Waddles was closer now. Mabel’s pig hadn’t yet noticed the gargoyle creeping up behind him. If he had, the pig would have noticed the wild gleam in his pupiless eyes. Stan’s lips had curled into a primal grin. He pounced. 

Waddles squealed in shock as Stan’s claws grazed his side. The pig turned, dodging a grey swipe. Stan crouched close to the ground, growling madly. Waddles took a single experimental step towards his owner’s great uncle, oinking softly. Again, Stan pounced, narrowly avoiding Waddles as he ducked away through a bush of brambles. The pig took off towards the house. 

Stan roared angrily. He pushed off the ground and jumped into a tree. He quickly scaled the trunk and chased after Waddles in the branches. 

Breaking through the tree line, Waddles raced towards the open patio door as fast as his hooves would allow. Stan crashed through the tree line seconds later. He jumped from the final tree with a huge beat of his wings. Waddles watched in horror as the man overshot and crashed into the garbage cans beside the house. 

Waddles heard the man roar in frustration as he slid into the kitchen. Kicking out with his back hooves, Waddles closed the door behind him, locking the deranged gargoyle outside. Waddles then raced up the stairs to where Mabel had made her bedroom. 

Outside, Stan jerkily pulled himself away from the metal trash cans. A primal growl escaped his lips. He paused for several moments, letting dried garbage drop off his wings. He heard waddles inside the house, oinking softly from the other side of the wall. Stan swiped at the can in frustration. He removed his claw from the dent can and prowled back towards the woods. Upon reaching the trees, Stan once again hefted himself up the trunk. He slowly prowled through the trees, much like a large cat. 

A quiet snap echoed through the forest. 

Stan’s head snapped towards the sound. Several trees away, a squirrel sat balanced on the thin branch of an oak tree. A quiet purr rose in Stan’s chest. His tail swung back and forth as he crept closer. Suddenly, he jumped. His wings extended and carried him several feet. He land atop the creature, causing him and the squirrel to break through the branches. They landed heavy on the ground with the mammal trapped beneath Stan’s heavy claws. It shrieked loudly as it tried to escape. It bit at down on Stan’s thumb, only to have it slid off his stoney skin. 

Stan’s eye’s glowed with a cruel and primal gleam. He suddenly let go of the creature and watched it scamper away several feet. Then he jumped, catching the small rodent in his jaws. With a nauseating crunch, the squirrel fell motionless in the man’s jaws. 

That seemed to bring Stan back to reality. The violent gleam in his eyes faded. 

“What am I doing?” Stan dropped the lifeless body and back away in horror. “I didn’t want to...” He turned around, looking around the trees. “Oh my god.” Stan muttered. He buried his head in his hands. 

“I think I need a nap.” Stan finally announced. He dropped down to all fours and began retracing his steps. He carried his unintentional prey in his jaws to throw away at the house- he wouldn’t want Dipper finding it later and seeing the unusually large bit marks in it. 

He eventually re entered the yard and made his way towards the garbage cans. 

“Can’t see squat without my glasses,” He muttered. He reset the garbage cans and deposited the squirrel inside. He rubbed his eyes and leaned up against the wall. 

Suddenly, a metallic sound rang through the clearing.  

“Who’s there?!” Stan demanded, quickly pushing himself away from the wall. He was meet with silence. “I know you’re there, ya flea face!” He listened in and heard whispering from behind the golf cart. “Got yea,” Stan muttered. He pushed off the ground and flew over the vehicle. He pulled his arm back and lunged, only to stop mid swing. 

“...Mabel? Dipper?” Stan questioned He quickly pulled his arm back, then he covered the spots of blood on his face with forearm. 

Mabel said something, but Stan didn’t hear it. He was too distracted by Mabel’s look of horror. The look she gave him, the look that also painted Dipper’s face, reminded him of the look his brother gave him thirty years ago. 

"Look, Mabel, it's not what it looks like sweetie-" Stan tried, shakily reaching for his great niece and nephew. Before he could react, Dipper scooped up his sister and scrambled for the woods. Stan blinked in realization. 

“No, Dipper, wait!” Stanford pleaded, meeting his nephew's eyes. Dipper looked at him long enough for Stan to see his glazed over expression, much like a deer in the headlights, before he fled into the forest with Mabel clinging tightly to his back.

"Kids!"

* * *

 

PRESENT 

 

Stan lay curled up in his room, sleeping much like a cat on the edge of his bed. He was cradling a pair of glasses in his hand. He turned roughly in his sleep, muttering quietly.

“All my fault…” Stan moaned, tightening his grip on the glasses. “Now I lost the kids too… Stanford, what do I do...” 

He whimpered and rolled back towards the foot of the bed. 

“I’ll get you back soon…” 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thank you so much for sticking around as I play catch up on this fic. At this point, It is nearly caught up to the current 19 chapters posted on fanfiction.net, and there is a twentieth unpublished chapter in the works. If all things go well, the fic will be completely up to date by October 13. If it's not, please let me know, and I'll start to ramp up my production. 
> 
> Also, you may notice several new, non-canon characters in this chapter. When it was originally published, I was incorporating several readers OC's to celebrate hitting a followers milestone. I may do this again in the future, but for the moment, this was a one-time thing. Many of these characters, if not all, have already had their moment of fame in this fic, and will fall into retirement as soon as you are done with the chapter. 
> 
> In other news, October is Monster Month, so I'd love to have this fic updated over the next few days, and to post a handful of new chapters throughout the month too. Happy Readings!

“How much further?” Pacifica asked. She slithered close behind Dipper and Mabel as they made their way through the woods. Dipper was leading them down a thin, overgrown trail. Mabel was sat on Dippers lower flank.

“We’re almost to the edge of town.” Dipper replied. He brushed aside some branches. “Do we all remember the plan?”

“Of course.” Pacifica answered. “We all sneak in diner before it opens, and you call your handyman to come pick us up.”

“While me and Pacifica wave Soos down from the window.” Mabel finished.

“Perfect.” Dipper continued leading the trio down the trail. The night before, they ended up falling asleep next to the pool. The sun rise was what woke them up the following morning, where they found each other cuddled together. That is, of course, if you count Mabel’s lower half hanging off into the water as well.

After a while of walking, Dipper signaled for the group to stop. He leaned back towards the girls behind him.

“Alright,” He whispered. “The Diner’s just behind this tree line. I’m going to rush over there and try not to be seen. Can you keep up Pacifica?”

“Of course I can.” Pacifica answered.

“On the count of three, then. One, two,” He mouthed the words _ three _ , and the pair bolted, Mabel still clinging tightly to her brothers back. Dipper skidded to a halt behind the back door, throwing his hands out wildly to keep himself upright. Pacifica slithered to a stop beside him gracefully.

Dipper reached forward and jimmied the door knob. Then he hit the door a couple of times with the palm of his hand.

“Is something wrong?” Pacifica hissed.

“It’s locked.” Dipper muttered. “I think it might have to broke down.”

“Oh, that’s great. I’m sure you and your upper body strength will make quick work of it.”

“You know, I could do without your sass.” Dipper retorted. Pacifica rolled her eyes. 

Dipper sat his lower end down, causing Mabel slid off. 

“Hey!” She protested, rubbing her butt from where it hit the concrete. Dipper backed himself up several steps and pulled his arms in close to his chest. 

“All right,” Dipper said to himself. “I got this.” He ran forward a few feet but pulled back before he hit the door. He pranced back into place, waving his hands in front of himself. 

“I’d like to be out of town before next year, Dipping stick.” Pacifica complained.

Dipper snorted once in Pacifica’s direction before turning his attention back to the door. He backed up slightly, then burst forward. He ran full force into the door, colliding with a resounding  _ thunk.  _ The hinges creaked with strain, but held the door firm in place. 

“Oh…” Dipper moaned, slowly sinking the the ground.

Pacifica snorted loudly. Dipper looked up, where Mabel was covering her mouth to hide her chuckles. 

“Are you alright?” She giggled.

Dipper looked at Mabel and slowly blinked.

“Thure dim thine” Dipper slurred, his head slowly bobbing up and down.

“Oh my god,” Pacifica announced. She slithered closer to where Dipper had collapsed on the doorstep. 

“Did you run into it head first?” Pacifica snapped her fingers in front of Dipper’s eyes, which he swatted at loopelly. She pushed his hands down and leaned into his face. “Are you alright?”

Dipper didn’t answer. He just slowly turned his head and looked up at Pacifica, his head still bobbing up and down.

“Bro?” Mabel asked. Her voice with filled with concern now. She grabbed Dipper’s shoulders and turned him towards her. He twisted with almost no resistance, going limp in her arms. Pacifica reached out and caught his chest before he could fall forward onto his sister. 

“Okay buddy,” Pacifica grunted. “I think it’s time to sit down for a bit.” 

“Notay…” Dipper mumbled, letting pacifica wrap her arms under his middle and behind his forelegs. 

She had began to lay him down when a voice broke through the air. 

“What are you kids doing?” 

Mabel and Pacifica jumped. Walking around the corner of the diner was a tall woman with thick, curly, and blonde hair. 

“Just hanging around!” Pacifica answered, quickly dragging herself and Dipper behind a pair of trash cans that separated the trio and the women. Mabel turned and hid her tail off the door step. 

“Just hanging around?” The women answered skeptically, raising an eyebrow. She slowly walked around the rest of the corner, revealing the lower half her body. 

“Oh my gosh,” Mabel awed as she got a look at the woman's dark brown hooves.

“Thank god,” Pacifica echoed. “It thought it was going to be some person from town.”

The women continued forward, looking at the girls wonder. Then her eyes wandered onto Dipper.

“Are you three alright?” She asked.  She slowly made her way towards the collapsed half deer, who had gone limp against the metal trash can. Pacifica slithered forward, placing herself protectively in front of him. 

“We’re fine.” Pacifica replied. The woman looked at her disbelievingly, but stopped her advance. She looked at the trio for a moment, then held out her hand. 

“I guess I never introduced myself.” The women tried again. Pacifica glared at her outstretched hand. “My name’s Nicole.”

“My name’s Mabel.” Announced Mabel. “That’s my brother Dipper and our friend Pacifica.” Mabel's tail swung out as she spoke, and Nicole looked at it strangely. Mabel reached out and grabbed her hand, which Nicole shook politely. 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Mabel.” She paused and looked over towards Dipper. “Do you want me to take a look at you brother?” 

“Um,” Mabel looked over at Pacifica, who was signaling “no” with her lips. Then Mabel looked down at her brother, whose head was still swaying back and forth. 

“Could you please?” Mabel answered.

“Of course, sweetie.” Nicole answered. She squeezed past Pacifica, who moved out of the way begrudgingly. 

“I can’t believe you.” Pacifica whispered as she slithered beside Mabel. 

“He’s my brother, Pacy.” Mabel shrugged. “What else would I do? Have him carry me home so I can call a doctor?” Mabel paused and placed her hands on her cheeks in fake realization. “But wait! There’s no such thing as a monster doctor! Oh noooo.” Pacifica crossed her arms and shrugged.

“Knock it off Pines. I just don’t get how you are comfortable letting some complete stranger take of your brother.” 

“Well, I don’t know of a vet in town either, so getting some help is probably our best option. What else would you want me to do?” Mabel asked. “Besides, Nicole seems nice. She reminds me of my aunt.” 

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I never had any siblings. I just,” She paused, grasping at the air dramatically. “I’ve always admired the concern you two have for each other. It’s so  extraordinary that you two care so much. I certainly never felt that close to any of my family.”

“Really? I could never imagine not caring for anybody like I do for my brother.” Mabel paused a second and reached for something in the grass. Pacifica watched as Mabel plucked a dirty blue pen from the grass. “Give me your hand.”

“What? No.” Pacifica answered.

But Mabel had already grabbed her hand and was scribbling a series of numbers onto Pacifica’s wrist. 

“I’m not sure what me and Dipper are going to do, and as much as I disagree, I don’t think you’re actually going to stay at the shack with us. This is our number for the summer. Just promise me that you will call if anything comes up, okay?” 

Pacifica pulled back and rubbed the blue numbers on her wrist. 

“Promise.” 

Nearby, Nicole set Dipper down on the ground and rubbed his side softly. 

“Hey kids?” 

Mabel and Pacifica turned their attention to older cervitaur. 

“Yeah?” Pacifica answered. 

“I think little Dipper here is going to be fine, but he’s probably going to need to rest up for a while. Do you kids have someone I can call to pick you up? Your parents? Aunt, uncle, anybody?”  

“In town?” Mabel answered. “But won’t someone see us?” 

“Oh baby, didn’t you know?” Nicole stared at Pacifica and Mabel's faces of confusion, and her face fell. “Oh god, you three didn’t know.” She paused, and her voice drifted into a warmer, and somehow even more motherly than before. “The whole town is like this.” She explained slowly. She pulled back and rubbed her hands together anxiously. “I’m sorry. I thought you two would have known already. Otherwise I would have told you sooner.”

“Oh,” was all that Mabel sqeaked out. Beside her, Pacifica sighed angrily. 

“That figures.” She grunted. “Your dummy brother probably gave himself a concussion because we were too dumb to look at the street.” 

“No, don’t beat yourselves up too bad.  A lot of kids are in the same boat as you. Now,” Nicole pushed off the ground and began trotting over to the road. “You three wait here while I grab somebody to help me carry your brother to the pool.” She turned and smiled. “That’s where we set up a refugee camp of sorts.” 

“Alright.” Pacifica answered. 

The girls heard a series of voices from the front side of the diner. One obviously belonging to Nicole, but also several sounding younger or deeper. 

A moment passed and Nicole reappeared from around the building. Following her was a large, black furred creature who walked on his back two legs. A moment after him, a women with long red hair strode by him and dropped a bulging backpack onto the ground. The black furred creature looked over to Mabel, who in turn was at looking at the yellow badge pinned to his thick navy blue vest. 

“Just got back from a tour.” The fox-like creature smiled, placing a finger under his badge and pointing it to the girls. “You can call me temporary Officer Dave.”

“Cool!” Mabel grinned. “Is that your taser?” She pointed excitedly at black holster at his side. 

“Mabel, are you six?” Pacifica whispered, giggling under her breath. 

“‘Fraid not,” Dave answered, flipping open the velcro cover to reveal a metallic revolver. “This is where I keep my god given gift to all-”

Nicole’s head snapped to the side and glared at Dave fiercely. 

“I mean all weapons need to be respected and out of reach by unsupervised minors.” Dave quickly corrected, but he still smiled and winked at the girls once Nicole had turned away. 

“Real smooth there Dave,” The women with the backpack scoffed. 

“You know what Ashanti?” Dave’s mouth hung open for a second as he tried to think of a retort. Then he snapped it shut and turned away. Ashanti covered her mouth and chuckled good naturedly. 

Between the the adults, Nicole and Dave both picked up a side of a side of Dipper and carried him between them. Ashanti had picked Mabel and cradled her bridal style. 

As the group rounded the building and came onto the sidewalk, they met with a final two figures who rested beside the wall of the diner. 

“Mabel and Pacifica, this is Harmony and Axton. Harmony and Axton, this is Pacifica, Mabel and Dipper.” Nicole explained. “They’ll be heading over to the pool with us.”

“Hello!” Mabel greeted. 

“Hey,” Axton shrugged nervously. 

“Hi,” Harmony grinned. Her hands rested on her orange dress, which hung misshapenly off her waist. She was a cervitaur too.

“Jesus, deer are popular.” Pacifica announced.

Harmony looked down at her legs dumbly. 

“Oh.” She looked up and blushed. “I guess so, huh? But I think it’s just the three of us. Me and Nicole used to be the only two in town.” Harmony explained. “And we’re just hanging out cause I can’t find my parents.” 

“Where do you think they are?” Pacifica asked. 

“I’m not really sure what happened to dad, but I think my mom’s still at work. She’s a part-time cook for the Northwest family.” 

“Oh.” Pacifica squeaked, turning her face in the opposite direction. 

Nicole lead her pack of misfits down the sidewalk with Harmony trotting loyally beside her. 

Pacifica hung towards the back with Axton. 

Pacifica turned and got a good look at the boy next to her. He had yellowed fur and long curled claws he that tried-with little success-to keep hidden in his hoodie pocket. He was currently licking the overgrown fangs that peeked out from under his upper lip. He happened to glance over and caught Pacifica staring at him. Pacifica quickly turned away, but she could feel her serpentine hair still looking in his direction. 

“You don’t have to pretend not to stare, you know.” Axton told her.  

“The hair has a mind of it’s own.” Pacifica shrugged in apology. 

“They weren’t the only ones staring.” Axton smiled awkwardly. His smile quickly faded as he spied Pacifica's dirty glare. “Sorry. This is just… an unusual circumstance. I’ve been freaking out a little bit.”

“Well, you’re not wrong.” Pacifica subsided. “It’s like the entire town has been flipped upside down.” 

“I know!” Axton exclaimed. “I mean, look at that!” He pointed across the street, where a large bag of groceries seemed to float out of the open door of the super market. Upon looking closer, Pacifica found a small woman, the size of an insect, flying on large wings carrying the handles of the bag.

“Is that I faerie?” Pacifica exclaimed. 

“It’s my babysitter Jackie!”  Axton answered. “Half of this stuff doesn’t even make sense. And I am a hundred percent positive it is not physically possible for something that small to  _ fly  _ with a bag that big. But here we are?!” He held his arms up in exasperation. Pacifica turned and laughed. 

“Well, I guess that’s the gift of Gravity Falls. No matter how weird it gets, we still manage to run as normal as we can.”

“You have a weird sense of normal.”

  
  


“Alright troop,” Dave announced. He kicked the door open with his foot and let waited for everyone to step in before him and Nicole followed suit.

“So this is what the public pool looks like.” Pacifica muttered. 

“You’ve never been here?” Hermione elbowed Pacifica playfully. “Is it as glorious as you imagined?” 

“Just as homely, actually.”

Sitting inside the lobby was a long desk with two doorways on either side that lead off in separate directions. A radio somewhere in the back played an upbeat pop song, which echoed of the buildings waterproof floors.

Sitting on the desk was a pair of girls who liked looked to be somewhere in middle school. One wore a long, black dress that showed almost no skin except for her bare arms and her rainbow neon tennis shoes. Sitting beneath a large parasol umbrella, she nodded in greeting as she took another bite of the kiwifruit in her hand. As she pulled away, the two long K9’s inside her mouth became apparent. Beside her sat bird-like creature. This one laid across the counter, a colored pencil pinched between her platinum-yellow feathers. She waved her legs back and forth as she drew, making her red rubber boots squeak with each soft kick. 

“Morning, Leila!” Nicole smiled. The bird girl looked up and smiled shyly. “Hey Megan! Could you open the office gate for me?” 

“Okay.” The girl in black answered calmly after swallowing her bite of fruit. She jumped off the counter and disappeared behind it. There was a moment of silence, then a soft click that ran through the room. A wooden divider that ran between the lobby and the desk space fell open. 

“Thanks darling.” 

Nicole and Dave sidestepped through the narrow opening and placed Dipper on the wooden bench behind the desk. Ashanti followed them and motioned for Pacifica to do the same. 

“Follow me, Axton.” Melody smiled, taking his hand a leading him into one of the branching doorways. 

Pacifica followed Ashanti as she lead her through the office space. The back office was small, and contained just enough space for a mini fridge, desk, and a pair of file cabinets. In the back, a flimsy screen door was all that separated the office from the pool. Ashanti nudged the door with her hip and walked over to the pool, where she placed Mabel. 

“Alright Pacifica,” Ashanti smiled. “Let’s get you inside so you can make some calls.”

“Lead the way Pacifica answered.

“Don’t forget to call my Grunkle Stan!” Mabel called as Pacifica disappeared into the building. 

“I won’t!” Pacifica promised. 

“ _ Grunkle?” _ Ashanti mouthed before shaking her head and disappearing behind the door. 

Mabel swum back, trying to get a glimpse into one of the buildings windows. She wasn’t able to see much-just the outline of the girls who had greeted them at the counter.  _ Megan and Leila _ , Mabel reminded herself. Turning her head around, Mabel began to look out at the crowd of creatures who had collected beside the pool. 

There was a bird like creature who sat on roof of the looby. He was easy for Mabel to identify. The fiery feathers of a phoenix were not hard to miss. The phoenix one wore a red hoodie that had holes burned in the sides where his wings had burst through the fabric. 

Beneath him sat a family four. The bear-like father and the oldest son, who was a large cat of sorts, batted at each other playfully while the mother laid across one of the pool chairs. She sported the spots of a geiko and let her tail curl around her smallest son. He sat beside her chair, reading a thick book about animals that he held between his black and white feathers. 

On the other side of the pool, a pair of Werewolves pounced at each other, taking turns stealing the bright blue pool toy from each other’s grasp. Mabel watched as the big one- she was easily the size of a Great Dane- reared back to keep the smaller one, who was wearing an insane amount of blue, from yanking the pool tool from her grasp. A bright yellow fox darted between them, growling angrily as they almost knocked her into pool. Her multitude of tails twirled behind her as she made her ways toward a pool chair and laid sideways across it. 

The fox woman had a very pretty array of blueish-white markings, and Mabel wanted yell it across the pool tell her. However, she seemed to be in a bit of a foul mood, so Mabel continued her game of people watching.

After watching a group of sirens playing between the tree branches, Mabel noticed some movement in the corner of her eye. Before she could turn towards the motion, an entanglement of limbs landed on top of her. Both her and the creature on top of her got thrown under the water. Mabel quickly turn and saw her cut throat attacker. 

“I am  _ soo _ sorry!” The golden naga apologized. She curled her tail away from Mabel after she had splashed through the surface of the pool. “My friends and I were screwing around and they threw me in the pool!”

“No,no, it’s alright.” Mabel assured her, grabbing the Naga’s hand and patting it slowly. “My name’s Mabel. What’s yours?”

“Bobbin.” She girl answered. “Hey, we have a game of tag going on. Wanna join?”

“I’d love too!” 

Bobbin smiled and led her to the edge of the pool where two girls stood near the water's edge. 

“Hey guys,” Bobbin greeted. “This is the girl you two threw me into.” 

“What?!” The first girl shrieked. She knelt down to get closer to the water. “We are so sorry. We didn’t mean too-”

Bobbin crawled out of the pool and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. 

“Jessica, it’s fine. Mabel’s cool with it.” 

“Oh?” Jessica sniffed. She stood back up and whispered  _ “Sorry _ ” one last time. 

Their other friend came closer as she did so, getting real close to Jessica’s side and elbowing it playfully.

“I told you we should have thrown her harder.” She looked down and smiled at Mabel good naturedly. “You can call me Ambrosia, by the way.”

“Why’d you through Bobbin half-way across the pool anyway?” Mabel asked. 

“We’re playing tag with Drake and none of us could catch him, so we tried to throw Bobbin at him. We missed.” Ambrosia explained. 

“Whose Drake?”

The entire group pointed out to the middle of the pool, where a grey shark fin rose above the still pool water in an ominous manner. However, the bright orange swim trunks that were right below the fin had a way of breaking his hunter-like facade. 

  
  


Pacifica held the phone up to her ear, holding her breath as it rang. 

“ _ Evening. You’ve reached the residence of Stanford Pines. Leave a message and I’ll probably delete it accidentally. Ha! I’m joking! Probably.” _ There was a pause.  _  “Soos! How do I turn off the-” _

Pacifica threw her head back in frustration. 

“That stupid old geezer!” She moaned. She placed the old cord phone back onto the wall. 

“Who am I going to call now?!” She slithered the two step distance towards the door and pushed it open violently. It screeched with the forceful strain then slammed violently against the building. 

Pacifica stormed onto the pool bay, scanning the pool for Mabel’s bright blue nightshirt. She finally spotted her engaged in a wrestling match between a naga and shark like creature. She made her way towards them, pushing her way through the two girls on the edge of the pool cheering them on. 

“Mabel!” Pacifica shouted, using her hands as a makeshift amplifier. Mabel’s group froze in the water, the naga curled around the two her and the shark boy. 

“Yes?’ Mabel answered casually. 

“I need to talk to you.” 

“Alright,” Mabel sighed. “I’ll see you guys around.” 

“Bye Mabel!” The boy in the water shouted. “Remember that quote I told you!” 

Mabel froze in the water. 

“Wait, Pacifica, we need to hear this quote Drake has memorized. It’s absolutely beautiful. I think I’m going to put it in my scrapbook.” She turned and look at Drake expectantly. He, in turn, looked at Pacifica, who looked down at him with her face- and her hair- scowling. 

He swallowed hard. 

“Um- well, I don’t have it perfectly memorized… It goes something like this though.” He paused and let his voice drop into a more showmen like tone and held out his hand dramatically.

“ I like to to think that the whole world goes through a certain level of hell,” Drake began. Pacifica held up her hand and signaled for him to stop.

“Fascinating.” She said, her voice oozing with venom. Pacifica turned away a continued to slither away. Mabel turned back and shrugged awkwardly before following Pacifica. 

“That was rude.” Mabel told her once was the pair was out of earshot. 

“Mabel, I saw the way you were gawking at him. I was saving you from one of your infamous crush weeks.”

“I do not have crush weeks!” Mabel protested. Pacifica turned and gave her a look, but said nothing. 

“Anyway, I need to ask you what we’re going to do about home.”

“What do you mean?” Mabel asked.

“I couldn’t get a hold of your weird uncle.”

“Stan didn’t pick up the phone?” 

“Well, obviously.” Pacifica muttered. “What do you think we should do next?”

“Um,” Mabel muttered. She ducked down so only her ears were above the water. She paused for a minute, listening to the sounds of the pool. She looked out into the parking lot, looking at the couple of cars parked out there, including a familiar, beat up van. Mabel burst through the water. 

“We can get a ride from Thompson!” Mabel grinned. 

“Who?” Pacifica asked. 

“One of Wendy’s friends! His van is out front!” Pacifica turned around and spotted the van. She wrinkled her nose in disgust, but said nothing. 

“Well, alright then. Let’s go.” Pacifica knelt down to the pool and pick mabel up, giving her a piggy-back to the office. There, a pair of teenagers argued with the girl in the black dress from before. 

“Look, I just want to get to the lost and found box and see if my girlfriend’s phone is in there.” The first one announced. 

“That’s Robbie.” Mabel whispered to Pacifica. 

“Valentino, I know. We went to the same daycare for awhile.”

The girl behind the counter clasped her hands together in frustration.

“Look, I get that. But I can’t give you the box, because I don’t technically work here. You will have to talk with the manager once he comes in.”

Robbie pinched his nose and exhaled. 

“Alright, fine. When’s the manager supposed to be here?”

“I don’t know. We haven’t seen him for two days.”

Robbie fell forward and slammed his head onto the counter. 

“Robbie!” Mabel cried. Robbie looked up and smiled at Mabel. 

“Mabel?” Robbie announced. He walked over to the pair, letting the two of them get a good look at his face. Much of the color had drained out of it, leaving it a gruesome shade of pale blue. Part of the skin below his nose had disappeared and left a portion of his jawbone and teeth. 

Mabel grimaced partially, but managed to keep her smile friendly. Pacifica’s jaw drop almost immediately. 

“Jesus Valentino! You look terrible!”

Robbie’s cheeks turned a darker shade of blue. He quickly pulled up the hood of his hoodie. 

“It’s nice to see you two Pacifica.” Robbie muttered. 

“Oh my god, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean too-”

“Don’t worry about it. I know I’m not nice to look at.” 

Pacifica pulled back awkwardly, but Mabel grabbed the bench beside them to keep her from advancing further. 

“Hey, I don’t mean to be ‘that guy’, but I don’t suppose you could get Thompson to give us two and my brother a road home, huh?” Mabel asked. 

“Of course I can.” Robbie shrugged. “The guy’s been driving me around all night.”

“Really?” Mabel asked. “I thought he didn’t like driving if he didn’t have too.” 

“Yeah, well, he feels bad for hitting me with his car.”

“What?!” Pacifica cried. 

“Yup.” Robbie nodded. “I think I got favors for life.”

“That’s how you turned?” Mabel gawked in horror. “Did it hurt?” 

Robbie pointed to the exposed jawbone of his face. 

“Take a look and tell me what you think.” 

Mabel and Pacifica looked at his face in horror. Robbie clapped his hands together, suddenly realising how dark he had turned the conversation. 

“Where’s your brother?” He asked. 

“In… the back.” Mabel pointed. “You might need to carry him though.”

“Alright! Meet you guys in the van!” 

 


	14. Chapter 14

Pacifica jumped into the van and scrunched her nose in disgust.

“It smells like popcorn butter and teenage angst in here. under her breath to Mabel.

“You should ask Thompson about that.” Robbie butted in, pushing Mabel and Pacifica aside as he stepped forward over their seat to the front. Mabel let herself fall over while Pacifica stayed stiff, crossing her arms defiantly. Several strands of her hair hissed at Robbie’s bony hand. Thompson appeared from the front as Robbie passed her by.

“Please don’t walk on the seats.” Thompson murmured from the front. “My mom hates the footprints.” Robbie swatted him in the back of the head and continued to crawl over to the front passenger seat. 

“Man, your van’s already trashed enough.” Robbie reasoned. “Besides, I don’t think a pair of footprints are going to make a difference when she sees the three foot dent in your front bender.”

Thompson whinned something incomparable and sunk deeper into his seat. Robbie chuckled darkly.

Pulling himself from his seat, Thompson started the ignition and stirred the van to life. A series of lights on the dash flashed and Thompson shifted the vehicle into gear. He began to pull out of the pool parking lot before turning around in the front seat. 

“Where I am taking you guys anyway?” He asked. 

“Let’s try the Mystery Shack first.” Mabel answered. She sat among a pile of water bottles that the temporary pool staff had been kind enough to help load into the van. 

“Try?” Thompson asked, raising both eyebrows. Mabel smiled sheepishly and shrugged. “Oh,” Thompson mumbled. “I’m chauffeuring a guessing game. ”

“Aw, come on Thompson.” Robbie grinned, leaning closer to Thompson and throwing an arm around his shoulder.. “You get to hang out with me so more!” Robbie laughed and elbowed Thompson playfully in the side. 

“Ha ha, yeah...” Thompson laughed nervously. “Fantastic.”

Thompson turned on the road and began to make his way through town. After a couple minutes, Pacifica nodded off and had started to snore softly.

Mabel pressed her face against the window, watching the all the townspeople as they slowly passed by. She recognized a handful of faces mixed with new features, ranging anywhere from scaly to feathered to furry. She even spotted a figure flashing in a out of existence as they stepped in and out of the sun. 

The sound of yelling jostled Mabel’s attention to the other side of the road. She nudged Pacifica’s sleeping form away from the window and watched as a store clerk ran out of her business’s doors, waving a wooden broom above her head. Several feline looking kids ran out, holding assorting candies in their mouths. They ran out onto the sidewalk and rushed by McGucket, who clung onto a stack of colored papers he held close to his rag doll chest. He looked up as the van passed and smiled, taking his hat off and waving it as the van passed. Mabel smiled and waved back.

Mabel continued to people watch as they drove, watching the town melt back into its normal routine. Mabel ducked as they passed the library, where a wooden figure was hanging out in the front, reading a large book to a group of extremely diverse small children. She was pretty certain it was Gabe.  

“Hey guys?” She announced after they passed.

“Yeah Kid?” Robbie asked, setting down the book of CD’s he was flipping through. It was a strange mix of pastel bible albums and dark red, purple, and black punk rock collections. Mabel continued to stare outside the window. 

“Is the entire town like this?”

“As far as I know.” Robbie answered. “Thompson?”

“I dunno.” He shrugged. “I’ve seen maybe three people that still look normal. I think one of them could walk through walls through.” 

“Huh.” Mabel shrugged. “Does that mean you changed too?”

“Yeah?” Thompson squeaked with a slight crack. “I mean, yeah.” He repeated in a lower voice.

The group sat in silence for a minute. 

“Into what?” Mabel asked slowly. 

“Oh, um, a...” Thompson mumbled. “A Satyr, I think…” He trailed off quietly. 

“You know the name?!” Robbie snorted. “What a dork!”

“You mean like from Percy Jackson?” Mabel replied excitedly, turning away from the window. 

“Yeah!” Thompson grinned. He turned and smiled smugly at Robbie. “See? She gets it.”

“Congratulations Thompson. You’re at the same reading level as a middle school student.” 

“So? She still read it.” Thompson muttered, sinking deeper into his seat. 

“Robbie, you haven’t Percy Jackson? I thought you had a boat load of books at your house.” Mabel chortled. She crawled forward, poking her head between the two front seats. From this angle, she was able to spot the dark brown fur that covered Thompson’s legs underneath his shorts. 

“Those are for aesthetic.” Robbie stated, matter-of-factly. He spun around to face the fishy preteen. “Besides, who actually has time to read? I only listen to audio books.”

“How is listening to audio books any better than reading the actual thing?” Thompson quized. “If anything, they take longer to get through.”

“Yeah, but you can get through more than one thing when you listen to it.” 

Thompson turned and poked Robbie’s side accusingly. “That’s a little hypocritical if you ask me.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Robbie pushed Thompson’s index finger away with his boney hand. “Maybe you should keep your eyes on the road before you hit anybody else, you kamikazi.” 

“Fine.” Thompson coincided.  

“Whatever.” Robbie shrugged. He turned away and continued flipping through his CD book.

Mabel leaned forward and rested her chin on Robbie’s shoulder.

“You got any audiobooks in there?” 

“Would you get back into your seat?” Robbie swung around and swatted at her halfheartedly. Mabel let go of his seat and let her seat belt snap her back into place. She made a small puff with her tongue as she hit the seat.

“God, you’re weird.” Robbie muttered. 

 

The van rumbled unhappily as the group pulled onto the Mystery Shack’s driveway.

“It’s a little bumpy.” Thompson noted as he twisted the steering wheel around the gravel piles scattered across the road. 

Robbie dug his nails into the top of his seat as his thin body was thrown about. 

“Uh-huh.” He muttered. 

Mabel turned around in her seat and grabbed Dipper by the shoulder. 

“Dipper!” She called, shaking him back and forth. “We’re here!”

“Nhmmm…” Dipper mumbled, turning away from her. 

“Dipper, come on.” Mabel tried again. She started to shake him violently, then let him go. The van justled forward as she did this, and Dipper fell to the floor. 

“Whoops.”

Robbie glanced back and grimaced. 

“I knew I forgot to buckle him in.”

Thompson turned around and gawked at Robbie in horror. 

“You didn’t buckle the kid in?”

“Road!” Robbie yelled. Thompson jumped and turned his head back towards the front. “Jesus!” Robbie muttered. “Get off my case dude. It’s not like it’s illegal.”

“But that's completely illegal...” Thompson whined softly.

Dipper lifted his head and looked up at Mabel, blinking slowly. Mabel unbuckled her seat so she could slide down onto the floor beside him. Thompson looked back and gave her a disapproving stare before Robbie swatted his attention back towards the driveway. 

“Hey buddy,” Mabel soothed. “How are you feeling?” 

“My head hurts.” Dipper murmured to her. He began to pick himself up, slowly crawling up the side of the van seat. The van hit another pothole and Dipper slid back down the seat, landing hard on the floor.

“Mhhmm,” Dipper moaned.

“Dude, watch where you’re going.” Robbie announced from the front. Thompson muttered something softly as the van began to slow to a crawl. Robie then turned around to the back of the van. “Everybody’s alright, right?”

“Yeah, we’re fine.” Mabel called back. 

“Cool.”

Dipper blinked in confusion.  

“Mabel?” 

“Yeah Dipper?” 

Dipper paused and made a pointing motion with his thumb.

“When did Robbie get here?” He whispered. 

Mabel’s face twisted in confusion. “Like twenty minutes ago, Dip.” 

Robbie turned from the front and raised an eyebrow skeptically. 

“I carried you into the van, stupid.”  

“Really?” Dipper awed. 

“We told you about this at the swimming pool, remember? You were up for like, ten minutes.” Mabel explained as she helped pull him back into his seat.

“When were we at the pool?”

“Oh my god,” Robbie muttered. “You must have completely clocked out.” He turned towards Thompson and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Steady the van, will yeah? I’m going to make sure animorph didn’t crack his head open or some shit.”

“Dude, language! There’s kids in the van.” Thompson hissed.

“Aw, don’t be such a baby. It’s not like they’ve never heard it before.” Robbie consoled him. He turned and unclasped his seat belt before beginning to climb out of his seat. 

“Don’t unbuckle Robbie,” Thompson tried. “Just wait till we stop.”

“And have their weird old uncle kick my ass for not checking on his kids? No thanks.”

“Fine.” Thompson conceded. 

“Really?” Robbie grinned. He stopped mid step between the seats. “I’m glad you’re seeing it my way Thomps-”

The van shuddered violently as Thompson directed the van over an open pothole. Robbie lurched forward, grabbing wildly for the seats around him but ultimately crashing into the floor. 

“Oh geez, did I do that?” Thompson wondered aloud with fake innocence. 

“Dude, what the hell?!” Robbie shouted, picking himself up from off the floor. He held his face in his hands, covering the visible portion of his jawbone.

“Sorry dude.” Thompson clicked his tongue apologetically. “But it probably wouldn’t have happened if you wore your seatbelt.” 

“You salty motherf-”

“WE’RE HERE!” Thompson shouted loudly. 

“Yay!” Mabel grinned. “Let’s go Dipper.” 

“Give me a second,” Dipper answered. He slid his torso over the seat in front of him and let his legs slid behind him. 

The side door slid open and Thompson  picked Mabel up by the arm pits. He swung her around so that she rested in a piggyback position on his back. 

“Hey, I can carry her.” Dipper complained. He jumped out of the van on landed on wobby hooves. Thompson readjusted his leg to give Dipper something to lean against as he stumbled over.

“Let’s get you rested up first.” Thompson told him. “We can’t have you falling over anymore and screwing up the rest of your head.” 

Dipper pushed away from Thompson’s leg and regained his stance. 

“But carrying Mabel is my thing,” Dipper whispered. 

“Aw, come on Dip,” Mabel soothed. “We’re just about home anyhow.” She held her hand out and Dipper took it. Mabel turn towards Thompson and leaned close to his year. “Dipper gets clingy when he doesn’t feel good.” She explained. Thompson nodded in understanding. 

“My brother’s the same way.”

“You have a brother? I didn’t know that.”

“Oh yeah,” Thompson went on as he walked forward towards the shack’s front door. “Gorney’s one of the weirdest kids man. Let me tell you…”   
  


  
  


Stan laid out with his stomach against the patio wood. 

“Uh,” Stan moaned. He readjusted his legs and winced as a surge of pain ached throughout his muscles. The sun coming onto the porch helped soothe his worn muscles, but he couldn’t help but feel drowsy. He had been searching non stop since Dipper and Mabel had disappeared, and he had only called it a day after the muscles in his wings and legs had started to burn with aches.

“What am I going to tell their parents.” Stan wondered aloud. His voice was muffled as he didn’t bother to move his mouth away from the floor.

Waddles, who sat on the center on Stan’s back, snorted in a pleasent reply. 

“Thanks pig. It’s good to know I didn’t scare off all my family.”

“Jesus, Mr. Pines,” Came Wendy’s voice. Stan lifted his head as the teenage werewolf appeared in the doorway of the shack. She carried a tall glass of water in each long, clawed hand. “You’re acting like you killed the twins, not scared them off.”

“I might as well have killed off one of them based off how they both looked at me.” Stan placed his face back against the wooden floorboards. “They think I’m a monster.” 

“We all are Mr. Pines.” Wendy answered. She stepped over his body sat down on the patio steps, mindfully avoiding her tail as she stepped. “Besides, the twins are smart. I’m sure by now they’ve figured out what you were doing. I mean, they saw me and my brother on the hunt.”

“You tried to eat them.” 

Wendy winced. 

“Well, yeah, but you didn’t try too. You only tried to eat squirrel! And you even stopped yourself.” Wendy playfully punched Stan in the arm. “That’s better than what both me and my brother could do! Heck, you even tried to eat Mabel’s fat pig, and he forgave you!” Wendy picked Waddles up and placed him next to Stan’s head. Stan looked up long enough for waddles to lick his glasses off the bridge of his nose. 

“See!” Wendy grinned. “I’m sure Dipper and Mabel will come back before you know it.”

Stan smiled and patted Waddles between the ears.

“Thanks kid,” Stan turned towards Wendy. She shrugged and lifted a glass of water to her mouth. 

“Don’t mention it.”

Stan smiled before reaching for the other glass of water. He took a long sip, then paused. 

“You can’t get your license till you're sixteen, right?”

Wendy’s eyebrows rose inquisitively. 

“Yeah?”

“Then why do I smell gasoline?”

Wendy pulled the glass away from her face and sniffed at the air. She immediately pulled her muzzle back and covered her nose. 

“That has got to be Thompson’s old clunker.” Wender muttered through her paws. Stan exhaled, then pushed himself off the ground.

“Better go see what your friend wants.” Stan grumbled. He held a hand out for Wendy and she took it, and with a quick pull, he helped her to her feet. 

By now, a series of voices could be heard from around the corner of the building.  Thompson appeared first around the corner, with Mabel clinging tightly to his neck. Dipper followed a second later, holding a light hand on Mabel’s tail. 

“Kids?” Stan perked. He rushed over to the trio and quickly scooped Mabel away from Thompson. 

“Grunkle Stan!” Mabel shrieked. She threw her hands around his neck pulled tightly into his embrace. Dipper teetered on his hooves before Stan scooped him up with his wings.

“Whoa, easy there bud,” Stan reached out and helped steady the deer child with one of his hands. “What happened to you?”

“He might have a concussion.” Thompson explained, stepping forward timidly. Stan picked Dipper up from below the legs and carried him in one arm. 

“How’d that happen?” Stan asked, stepping forward to meet the satyr. 

“Uh,” Thompson stumbled back a few steps. “He, uh…”

“Dipper tried to bust down a door.” Mabel answered. Stan pulled back, almost with a motion of shock. 

“With his little noodle arms?”

“Hey!” Dipper protested. Stan quickly covered Dipper’s protest with a covering by his wing. 

“Anyway, thanks for driving them over.” Stan returned his attention to Thompson. “I’d shake your hand, but…” Stan gestured towards the kids in his hands. 

“Yeah… Yeah, don’t worry about it. The drive was really a little bit of normal I needed.” Thompson stuttered out.

“Do you want to come in and come grab something before you hit the road?” Stan offered. 

“Oh, no, no, no.” Thompson waved off the request nervously. “I gotta drop of Robbie and that snake girl off at the Valentino’s, cause she’s not staying at my place, and I gotta go, cause I think of made more of his skin fall of when I made him fall over in the van-”

“You made his what fall off?”

Thompson nodded nervously. 

“Yeah, I think I gotta go right now. I’ll see you kids around.” He waved in goodbye before scanning the yard once more. “Do you need a ride too Wendy?” Thompson yelled across the yard. 

“Naw, I’m good.” Wendy called back. 

“Cool!”

Stanford turned back towards the kids, who he held both of close to his chest. 

“I’m glad you two are back,” He smiled, pulling the twins back into a hug as he walked towards the house. 

“Aw, we’re glad to see you too Stan.” Mabel hugged back.

“It’s good to be back.” Dipper said quietly. Wendy held the door open as the trio was carried inside. 

“Come on, Pines, I’m sure you all have some catching up to do.” Wendy smiled. She turned to enter the house once more, but paused before closing the door. 

“Do you guys smell something?” She asked.

“Do I what?” Stan called from inside.

“Aw, never mind.” Wendy called. “It’s probably nothing.” She stepped inside and closed the door behind her. 

There was a soft rustling in the bushes as the door clicked shut. A moment later, a man popped out of the bushes, unhooking a walkie talkie from his belt. 

“This is Agent Trigger to Agent Powers.” He moved through the bushes, moving closer to the window of the Mystery Shack. “You will not believe what I just found.”

 


	15. Chapter 15

Trigger pushed through a wall of leaves, twisting as twigs and branches pulled at the edges of his suit. He pulled away with a big tug, stumbling into the dark clearing in front of him. Inside the clearing was a small camp of sorts, littered with assorted camping supplies and unusual bits of clothing. In the middle of it all sat agent Powers, typing away on a clunky personal computer. 

“Powers!” Trigger exclaimed as he skipped forward. He stumbled in the night time darkness as he quickly made his way towards the middle of the clearing.

Agent Powers glanced up calmly before dropping his attention back to his computer.

“Did you run all the way here from the Pine’s residence?” Powers inquired. He sat in the shadow of a large black vehicle, which had been hidden beneath a big green tarp. 

“Powers,” Trigger tried again, wheezing through strained breaths. “Powers, holy cow.”

Agent Powers turned away from his work and gave Trigger a long look. 

“You look like a homeless man.” 

“Pfft,” Trigger shrugged. He opened his mouth to say something witty, but paused uncomfortably. “Ugh, pfft.” He tried again. Powers paused for a long breath before saying anything. 

“Alright Trigger, what were you in such a hurry to tell me?”

Trigger straightened his his back to stand at attention. 

“You remember the zombie incident at the Mystery Shack sir?”

A small muscle twitched behind Powers stoic face.

“I can recall it.” Powers answered. 

“There’s more.” Trigger blurted, almost giddy. 

“More what?” Powers pressed.

“Monsters. In the house.” Trigger continued. “Some outside. Some left.”

Agent Powers closed his eyes, inhaling sharply. 

“Alright, Trigger. I need you to listen carefully. There is a small metal box in the back of the van. There’s not much ammo in there, but it should be enough to get us the the armory in Washington. They won’t be able to get us if we hole up in there.” He turned and began packing the items around him into a nearby bag. “I always knew the zombie infestation would spread.”

“What? No. That’s dumb.” Trigger cut Powers off. “There are, like, Disney movie monsters in the house, like mermaids.”

“Fine. We wait for the zombie plan.” Agent Powers narrowed his eyes. “For now.”

“Whatever man. But I’m telling you- the house is overrun by these creatures.”

“Did you take any photos?”

“Of course.” Trigger stated. He reached into his tattered suit and produced a digital camera. Powers plucked it from his hands and snapped it into a cable, connecting it to his computer. 

“Well,” Trigger slipped over, looking down from behind Powers’s back. “What do you think?”

“These look like candids of extremely pale children.” Powers grumbled. “I’m not even sure if this tall one is a boy or a girl.”

“What do you mean?!” Trigger reached over to point at the screen. “She’s clearly a werewolf!”

“This is a picture of an extremly hairy child from the chin down.” Powers argued back. “And the assortment of leaves in front of the camera lense doesn’t help the clarity much either.”

“I was in the bushes Powers. What did you want me to do?”

“Take better pictures.” Powers answered. He unplugged the camera from his laptop and tossed it back to Trigger, he quickly caught it midair. 

“Y-you mean now? At night?” 

“When else? Get some good intel and come back.” Powers paused. “You said this was at the Pine’s residence?”

“Yeah?”

Powers paused again and took a long breath. 

“See if you can find one of this kids.” Triggers face scrunched together in confusion. 

“Sir, I don’t understand.”

“Grab on of the kids. I’d say both, but I doubt you can sneak out with two.”

“Powers, that’s kidnapping! That’s illegal!”

“So is stealing dangerous, toxic waste and using it for experiments in your basement. Those kids will be safer away from that house rather than in it. Besides, we’re the government.” Powers unclipped a device from his belt and placed it into Triggers hands. “See what you can do.”

Trigger looked at the item in wonder, than squinted to look at it in the dark. 

“Is this a gun?” He whispered.

“It’s a taser, Trigger. You’re walking into a tourist trap, and a terrorist den. Jesus.”

“R-right. Yes sir.”

 

\-----------

 

Wendy sprawled out on the couch, spreading each of her long, hairy limps to each corner.

“You better not shed all over my love seat.” Stan warned, emerging from the bottom of the stairs. 

“Ever had a dog before Mr. Pines? Cause I don’t think they control how much hair they lose either.”

“That’s bull. The goat never sheds, and neither would dogs if they bothered to stop shaking their fur all over the place.”

“Whatever.” Wendy conceded, reaching up with her back foot to scratch behind her ear. Stan glared at her as a puff of ginger fur fell onto the couch around her. Wendy smiled and scooted forward, cover the excess hair with her torso.

“You’re lucky I’m so generous.” Stan sighed, patting Wendy’s head as he walked by. He knelt and reached under the couch and pulled out a thick cotton blanket. He casually tossed up so that it landed on Wendy. 

“Night kid.” 

Wendy unfolded the blanket and sniffed at it curiously.  _ Ice cream and cough drops,  _ Wendy realized, pulling the blanket over her her body. 

“Good night Mr. Pines.” Wendy called back as Stan slipped out of the room. The lights flickered out a moment later. 

She laid there in the dark for a few minutes, listening to the shack as it creaked softly to the midsummer breeze. The was a slight commotion as Stan moved about, until that eventually puttered out too. She shuffled under the blanket and looked back at the ceiling. Wendy huffed, turned her head around the room, then looked back up at the ceiling. 

“Darn,” She brushed the blanket off and sat up on the couch. “I’m not tired at all.” She reached over and turned on a little lamp. She blinked as her eyes adjusted the dusty light.

“Geese, it’s dusty everywhere.” She muttered waving her hand infront of herself. She saw her nose twitch at the end of her muzzle. Wendy quickly covered her nose as she doubled over and sneezed. She pulled her hand away and pulled a face.

“Ew, dog slobber…” Wendy grimaced. She stood up and made her way to the kitchen. She stumbled around in the dark as the carpet gave away to kitchen tile. HEr claws clicked softly against the solid floor as she slid forward in her hole-ridden socks. 

“Sink?” Wendy wondered aloud as she felt around in the dark. “No, that’s the counter.” She ran her fingers against the countertop until she found a metal divot. “There’s the sink.” 

She quickly washed her hands and wiped them dry on her plaid pajamas. Wendy glanced over to where she dragged her dirty hands across the counter.

“Should I clean that?” She wondered out loud. Wendy squinted before opening the fridge. The small light inside it illuminated the room. “Oh, that’s better.” She turned back toward the counter and shook her head. 

“I should find a rag or something,” Wendy mused. She quietly began going through the series of drawers in the kitchen, then froze. Leaning towards the window, Wendy quickly scanned the yard. 

“What was that...” She walked over to the porch door and pressed her ear against it. The sound was soft, but there was a definite clicking noise from the other side. Almost like the shutter of a camera. Wendy quietly eased the door open, just enough to peer out onto the porch. The clicking stopped, and Wendy froze the door in place. It was silent.

“Hello?” Wendy called. Not hearing an answer, she open the door further. Just as the door swung all the way open, a figure flashed off the porch and into the bushes. 

“Hey!” Wendy shouted, rushing forward towards the bush. A raccoon darted from the leaves before she reached it. The animal turned and hissed at her before scampering angrily into the woods. 

“Oh,” Wendy murmured to herself. “Just a raccoon.” She turned toward the door and shook her head in disbelief. “Of course it was a raccoon.” Wendy entered the house and closed the door behind herself. “What else would it have been?”

 

\-------

 

“Oh my god.” Agent Trigger muttered under his breath. He looked up from the bushes to catch a glimpse of the lanky werewolf moving about the kitchen. “Oh my god.”

He held his camera close to his chest, his knuckles turning white as he watched the werewolf go through the freezer with an icecream scoop clenched between her jaws. Trigger sat in silence as she collected a small pile of food before slipping out of the kitchen and into the next room. 

“She’s gone.” Trigger whispered aloud to himself. He had changed out of his tattered suit from earlier and had since replaced it with a black set of pants and tee-shirt, which was was separated by the clunky belt tucked beneath his shirt. The yellow tip of the taser poked out of the holster on his right hip. 

He quietly crawled back onto the porch and slinked towards the door.  _ Thank god that raccoon was in the yard,  _ Trigger thought to himself.  _ Otherwise, I’d be done for.  _ He tested the doorknob and smiled.  _ At least that kid didn’t lock the door.  _

Trigger opened the door and slipped inside. The house was dark, except for the soft glow of the tv from the next room. He tiptoed closer to the light and pressed his back close to the wall dividing the two rooms. Trigger turned and poked his head around the corner. The ginger werewolf had her legs propped up on the legs of a yellow chair as she eat out of a bowl of ice cream half-mindedly. 

_ I think she’s the only one awake,  _ Trigger noted. He looked past her and spotted a staircase on the opposite side of the room.  _ Shoot.  _ He looked at the girl in the chair and mouthed a curse.  _ Shoot.  _

Trigger turned and scanned the kitchen for another way around her, but found none. 

_ Ok, this is fine _ .  _ I can just… _ Trigger spun around and scanned the living room again.  _ I can just sneak behind her. Easy.  _

He crept forward, keeping his back close to the wall furthest away from the girl. His feet moved silently over the carpet, keeping his eyes locked on the ears poking around the chair. 

“Ugh,” The girl growled suddenly. Trigger froze as she began to shuffle in her seat. The creature arched her back and tried another position before shaking her head in disgust. “Might as well be sitting on a rock.” She muttered as she crawled out of the chair on all fours. She prowled past him to the couch across the room. In silent horror, Trigger watched as she crawled over the side of the old seat leaned against it, with her back turned to face him. 

Trigger exhaled and pulled a shaky hand away from his taser. Quietly, he continued to scoot along the wall until he reached wooden floor leading up to the staircase. He turned his head and gave one last look to the canine creature before briskly forcing his way up the stairs. 

“Jesus, that was close.” Trigger whispered under his breath. “I should have taken a picture.” He paused, then shook his head. “No, that would have been stupid. She would’ve heard the shutter.”

He continued up the stairs silently until he reached the second floor. Trigger unclipped a flashlight from his belt and began to move about the floor. 

“Everything’s so old.” He murmured, running his hand against the yellowing wallpaper. “Just like my grandmother's place.” He moved down the hall and tried the doorknob on the first door he came across. It swung open. 

Trigger pointed his flashlight inside and winced as the light reflected brightly against the bathroom mirror. He look around the room and moved towards the tub, which had been filled to the brim with water. 

“The mermaid.” Trigger realised as he looked inside. He recognized the girl inside as the sister from the mystery shack earlier that summer. “Poor little girl....” Trigger whispered. He quickly snapped a picture with his camera and stepped out of the bathroom. _ I wish I could move her out, but I don’t know how I’d move her through the forest with no water… _

He shook his head and continued through the house, checking each of the side rooms. Finally, he came to a second staircase that lead up towards the attic. 

“Oh good,” Trigger muttered. “The attic in a monster infested house. How could this possibly go wrong?” He shook his head skeptically, but continued up anyway. Once he reached the top, he opened one last door that opened up into a well-furnished attic. Trigger moved his flashlight around the room as he slowly made his way over to a pair of beds. Hand drawn pictures were taped to the walls, along with occasional photos of two kids and the older man who owned the house. There was a bed tucked into each corner of the room, although one was still made cleanly and unoccupied. Trigger turned toward the other bed, where a boy slept soundly. 

“You’re the kid with the book.” Trigger thought out loud. He pulled the blankets off him, revealing a long, furry torso and legs. Trigger blinked back his surprise and took a picture of the kid before attaching the camera to his side. 

“Okay buddy,” Trigger whispered, bending over to pick up the child. “Powers wants me to get somebody out of here, and I guess you’re it.” He scooped him up in his arms and began moving towards the staircase. “You’ll thank me later.” The child murmured something in his sleep, and moved around awkwardly. 

“Whoa, calm down there buddy,” Trigger whispered, already moving down the staircase. The child murmured something louder and kicked out with his legs. Trigger doubled over as a pair of hooves struck him below his ribs. The kid fell out of his hands, landing hard on the floor with a loud  _ thunk.  _

_ Oh no, _ Trigger thought as a wave of pain ran through his body. 

“Hello?” Yelled the girls voice from downstairs. “What was that?”

“Oh no no no,” Trigger panicked, scooping up the kid and slipping back up to the attic. He pressed up against the wall closest to the staircase. He heard footsteps rushing up the stairs now and held his breath as they got closer to the attic. 

“Dipper?” Came the werewolf’s voice as she emerged from the staircase. 

_ Don’t look this way,  _ Trigger prayed. He watched as the girl took several steps forward, passing him as she made her way towards the boy’s bed. “You alright Dipper? I heard a noise.” Taking his chance, Trigger bolted down the stairs with the sleeping boy slung over his shoulder. 

“Hey!” The girl yelled as Trigger ran past her.

“I’m dead , I’m dead, I am so dead.” Trigger hissed and he ran down the staircase, and rounded the corner towards the rest of the second floor. He could her the girl behind him, racing behind on his heels. He nearly tipped as he reached the second set of stairs, but he moved so fast he couldn’t feel the tips of his feet as they touched the steps. Trigger jumped over the last few and landed on the carpet in the living room. He caught a glimpse of the girl leaping down the stairs and skidding the hardwood into the wall. 

“Oh, she’s big.” Trigger panicked. He unclasped his taser as he ran towards the kitchen and into the door. 

“Hey!”

Trigger turned to see the werewolf pointing at him from across the kitchen.

“You’re one of those guys from the government!” She yelled. 

“And you’re scary!” Trigger screamed back as he pushed open the kitchen door. “Bye!” 

“You come back here!” The werewolf demanded as Trigger ran out the door. 

“No thanks!” Trigger shouted in reply. He heard the kitchen door slam into the wall behind him and the click of animal nails on wood. Trigger turned and pointed his taser at the sound. “Now you see here!” He shouted. He gasped as the girl launched herself from the porch with her lips pulled back in a snarl. Trigger closed his eyes and pressed the trigger on the taser.

He felt the force of the creature’s body slamming into his torso. Trigger fell hard on the ground as the kid he was carrying and his taser rolled out of his grasp. 

“Let me go!” Trigger shouted. 

“What were you doing here?” The Werewolf demanded. Trigger reached out and struck her hard in the ribs. She gasped as as he rolled beneath her. Trigger pushed out with a final blow into her muzzle with his shoulder and she was knocked off of him.

Trigger was running towards the boy in the grass when he felt the sharp pain in his shoulder. He cried out as he was knocked face-down into the grass. He looked up to catch a glimpse of the werewolf spitting blood out of her mouth. Trigger reached up and touched his shoulder. 

“You bit me.” Trigger whispered. 

The girl covered her mouth and placed her paw on his shoulder.

“Oh my god, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-” Her words trailed off as the sound of her voice dropped out.

Trigger looked at her in confusion for a moment before the rest of the world around him turned to black.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Update! I swear, I'm going to get this fic caught up even if it KILLS me. Enjoy~!

 

“No no no, wake up.” Wendy shook the man in the grass. He hung limp in her hands, and moaned in protest each time she shook him.

“Oh shit,” Wendy swore. She dropped his shoulders and let him drop to the ground. The agent’s head went limp, and his mouth fell hinged open. The bite mark around his shoulder could be seen through the large tear Wendy had left in his shirt fabric, which was now muddy red in color. She peeled the shirt back, and winced at the ugly wound. Wendy swallowed nervously, and felt the taste of blood refill her mouth.  She dropped her lower jaw and furiously wiped her mouth clean with the end of her sleeve. Then, grimacing, she wiped the man’s shoulder with her dirty sleeve, clearing up the much of the layer of blood from the bite. Underneath it left the relatively clean canine bite mark.

“Shit.” Wendy swore again. She turned around nervously caught sight of Dipper’s body lying in the grass. Quickly making her way towards him, Wendy grabbed his side and shook him furiously. 

“Dipper, wake up.” She hissed. Dipper flopped around sleepily in her hands. “I need you find something out about werewolf bites.” She shook him again, harder, and he sleepily rolled away from her hand. “Damn your concussion.” Wendy cursed, turning her attention back to the agent. Her eyes wandered back to his wounded shoulder. 

_ I can’t just leave him here. _ Wendy thought to herself.  _ If he turns, he could hurt somebody.  _ She turned to the house, then shook her head.  _ Or try and break into the shack again.  _

Turning her attention back to the man in the grass, Wendy scanned him up and down and nodded slowly. 

“I’m going to have to bring you in the house, aren’t I?” She complained, grabbing the man by his uninjured shoulder. He murmured something unintelligible and recoiled away from her touch. He gasped in pain as he rolled onto his bleeding shoulder. Wendy carefully rolled him back over and grabbed him by the hips, draping him over her shoulder. He moaned loudly as she did so.

“Sorry buddy,” Wendy told him. She paused and her nose scrunched up.  _ Should I be careful with someone who tried to break in?  _ “I’m sure you’ll be fine if I drop you once or twice.” Wendy reasoned.

She moved over to Dipper and scooped him up under her other arm. He doubled over and dangled from her grip. 

“Jesus, you’re both so light.” Wendy muttered and she made her way over to the house. “My brothers are twice as heavy as you two are.” The agent murmured something as she walked, and Wendy nodded along to his incoherent words.  

She shimmied up the porch steps and kicked the door open. 

“Mr. Pines!” Wendy yelled as she slipped into the kitchen. “Mr. Pines, I need your help!”

Wendy made her way to the living room and dropped Dipper off on the couch. The light from the TV still illuminated the room. She had left it on when she heard the agent moving around upstairs. 

Wendy dropped the agent on the floor and watched as he rolled away, cradling his shoulder. 

_ Not even awake yet, and the guy’s guilt tripping me.  _ Wendy shook her head and walked to the back of the house, where Stan’s room was located. 

“Mr. Pines!” Wendy called, knocking on the door. She paused and waited for a response, but was met with silence. “Mr. Pines? You in there?” Wendy tried again. Still quiet. “There’s a man bleeding out in your living room!” Wendy cracked the door open and switched on the light. 

“Stan?” Wendy called. The room was empty. She looked around and checked the bed, which was still made and untouched. Wendy lifted her nose and sniffed the air. Nothing.

“He’s not here.” She realised. Grabbing the doorknob, Wendy pulled the door shut and slammed it hard against the wall. “Nice time to disappear, Stanford!” She shouted.

Wendy walked back to the living room and glanced down at the man drooling on the floor. There was a line of light brown hair that was beginning to sprout from his neck down. 

“Shoot.” Wendy muttered. She pulled off his torn shirt, revealing a thin layer of hair. “I’m not even a real werewolf!” Wendy worried aloud. “Why is he turning so fast?” She looked up and saw the large bite at his shoulder, which was still bleeding.

Wendy quickly hurried to the gift shop and swung herself around the checkout counter. She dug around underneath it and pulled out a white box and a red medical cross on the front. She rushed back to the living room and placed the first aid kit next to the man.

“Ok bud,” Wendy started. “I’m going to wrap this up like my dad taught me how to bandage our dog. ” She pulled out a wet wipe out of the box and began to rub the wound clean. “It might not look the prettiest, but no one’s going to be able to tell the difference in a few hours anyway.”

She continued to work on the wound, cracking open a brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide.  Wendy poured it directly on his skin and it bubbled up and dripped to the floor. 

_ Ew, _ Wendy cringed as she worked.  _ My mouth isn’t that filthy, is it? _

She dabbed the leftover liquid off with the man's shirt and tossed it aside. Pulling a roll of bandages from the white first-aid kit, Wendy began to wrap it around the man’s shoulder. Finally, she taped it in place and tucked a couch cushion beneath his shoulder. 

Wendy clapped her hands together and smiled.

“That should do it.” She smiled. Wendy looked around the room and squinted. “I guess I should go find Mr. Pines now, huh?” She looked down at the government agent at her feet and frowned. “But I just can’t leave you here, can I?” 

Turning her attention to the man’s belt, Wendy quickly unclasped it and began to dig through its collection of pockets. She pulled out a wallet first and read the name of the card tucked in the clear pocket out front. 

“Agent Jeffrey Trigger.” Wendy real aloud. “What a stupid name.” She continued to dig through the belt until she reached a large pocket along the side. From inside, she removed a pair of silver handcuffs and a ring of keys. 

“Perfect,” Wendy smiled, tucking the keys back inside the belt and placing it on her waist. She grabbed Trigger by the feet and dragged him across the room, next to the fish tank. Grabbing the arm that wasn’t bitten, Wendy preceded to clasp one side of the handcuffs to him and the other side the the leg of the cabinet. She kicked at it the leg once and smiled. 

“That should hold you.” Wendy grinned. She dropped down to all fours and trotted over to the couch. “Now to find Stan.”

 

\---------

 

“This one?” Stan wondered aloud, plugging a red cable into an empty socket. A bright spray of sparks erupted from the wall, and a series of pops began to ring throughout the room. Stan’s hands shot to his ears to block out the piercing noise. 

Quickly kicking the cable away from the wall, Stan pulled his hands away from his head as the electrical sizzling suddenly faded out. He cursed and looked around the room, where a small series of newly scorched wires hung from the ceiling. Stepping out of the control room, Stan entered a large room that echoed as he stepped on the floor. The room was mainly empty, with the exception of a series of devices that lined the wall. On the farthest side of the room, behind a long line of bright yellow warning tape, sat a large contraption that formed a large ring of metal. 

“I can probably fix that.” Stan reasoned as he examined the wire damage above. He wandered back to a control panel and flipped off a panel labeled  _ Power _ . Then he grabbed a tool box that sat beside the doorway and reentered the previous room. 

With a heavy flap from his wings, he took off from the ground and carried himself to the closest section of spent wire.  _ I’m getting pretty good at this flying thing _ , Stan smiled. He swung around in the air and carefully hovered next to the wall. Letting his wings drop, he swung forward and collided with the wall, where he let his claws dig into the metal siding to stop himself. 

Wrapping the tool box handel in his tail, Stan began to pull to damaged wire from the wall. He sat in silence as he worked, letting his hands guide him as he dug around in the wiring. Suddenly, his hands paused, and he turned his attention to the tool box. 

“Damn,” Stan muttered out loud. “I’m outta of electrical tape.”

Pulling his talons out of the wall, Stan slid to the floor and discarded the tool box. 

“I wonder if Soos left some in the gift shop.” He wondered aloud as he began to make his way toward the staircase out of the basement. He had to crouch to get his wings to fit the small arch way, and stayed scrunched in the tight hall. 

“Been down here every other night for the thirty years and it’s still dustier than a crypt.” Stan huffed, waving his hand if front of his face to clear the air in front of himself. He pushed past a door at the top of the stairwell and entered an antique elevator. It groaned in protest as he stepped inside. He leaned against the back wall as the elevator reeled upward, and looked down at his watch as he waited. 

“Is it already past midnight?” He wondered aloud. The elevator screeched to a stop, and Stan stepped off. “I might as well as call it a night.” Stan reasoned, walking across a small dark space.

He reached the wall and flipped up keypad. Punching in the short code, Stan reached for the door and paused. The lock had clicked open, but the door hadn’t popped open like it normally would. Stan pressed his hand against the door, only to find it jammed shut. 

"What the-" He muttered. Stan pushed harder on the door, but it only budged forward about an inch or so. Punching in the code again, Stan made a face as it beeped in protest. Apparently, the door was already unlocked. 

"Then why are you jammed?" Stan threw up his arms in frustration. He kicked at the door and it gave another inch before bouncing back.

"Ow!"

Stan froze as he heard a voice on the other side of the door shout. 

_ Someone must be in front of the vending machine. _

Quietly, Stan took a step away from the entrance. He heard shuffling on the other side as the person stood up pushed against the door. Stan breathed a breath of silent relief as they accidently pressed it back into the lock. 

"Whaaat...?" Came a muffled version of Wendy's voice. The noise of shuffling could be heard as she moved around the other side of the door. She kicked at it, and the metal door shook in its hinges. It would take a much bigger force to move it.

"There must be something crawling around in the walls." Stan could hear Wendy whisper to herself. He could just about imagine the look of disgust that was spread across her face. She shook the machine again and it wobbled, but ultimately settled back into place. Finally, Stan heard her puff in disgust and stomp away. He waited until a full five minutes had passed on his wristwatch to open the hatch again. 

"Jesus Christ, that was close." Stan huffed to himself. He punched the code back into the keypad and the door popped open. Stepping into the gift shop, he quickly turned and closed the secret door shut, leaving only the conveniently placed vending machine in its place. "Lucky kid was too close to finding door."

"And we wouldn't want that to happen." 

Stan jumped as he heard a voice pierce through the darkened room. Turning on his heel, he came face to face with Wendy. She was leaning beside the entrance of the gift shop her arms folded tightly across her chest. 

“Wendy?” Stan exclaimed in surprise. “What are you doing up?”

“What am I doing up?!” Wendy shot back. “I was out wrangling up a would-be kidnapper! And THEN, I had to wrap up the a-hole’s arm!” She pushed herself away from the wall and strode fiercely over to way Stan had placed himself.  “And then, I spent the last forty-five minutes scouring the property looking for you, only to find your musty scent behind, what I thought, was a crappy vending machine!” Placing a finger on the center of the larger man chest, she leaned in so that her muzzle was only inches from his face. “What the  _ hell _ were you doing?”

“Kidnapper?” Stan asked.

“Don’t change the subject!” Wendy shouted. 

Stan swallowed and took a step back. Wendy, in her disheveled, furious state huffed as he did so. 

“I was fixing up some wiring.” Stan answered. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but Wendy’s eyes narrowed at his reply. 

“Then where’s your tool kit?” Wendy quizzed him further. She nodded her head toward the Vending machine. “Did you leave it somewhere by mistake?”

“Listen, Wendy, I know you have plenty of questions, but please, you said someone broke in-” Stan started. 

“Don’t ‘Listen, Wendy,’ Me!” Wendy hissed back. “While you were messing around in the goddamn walls or some shit, I was out looking for you!” She was moving her hands weirdly as she talked, aggressively pointing to herself and the objects around the gift shop. As she moved her arms in a big loop, Stan grabbed them and gently placed them against her shoulders. 

“Calm down kid.” Stan soothed. He could feel the heat from her skin coming off in waves. “I’ll tell you guys everything. But I need you to think straight for a second.”

“But-”

Stan cut her off. 

“Shh. Everything is fine.” He repeated. “Just give me some time, then I’ll explain.” Wendy pulled back and tried to wriggled free, but Stan held her firmly in place. 

“No!” Wendy protested against his loose grasp. “Let me go! Tell me what’s behind that stupid machine!”

Letting his head fall back, Stan looked up at the ceiling for a moment and released a heavy breath. He shook his head before looking back at Wendy. He tightened his grip slightly around Wendy’s wrist.

“Wendy, I’m no parent, and I’m not about to start talking down to you like one.” Stan told her. Wendy looked away from her hands and met Stans gaze as he continued. “I need you to not scold me like one either.”

“But…” Wendy struggled to put words into her mouth. Instead she just looked down at her feet. “What about the door?”

“Kid, you’re what, fifteen?” Stan continued. “You’re  _ way  _ too young to be trying to parent me. I promise that I will tell you what is behind that door, but we have problems that need to be first. So just, let this go for now, okay? Can you do that?” 

“Um, yeah. Yeah, I can do that.” Wendy answered. Stan breathed a breath of relief and released Wendy’s wrist. 

“Okay. Good. Glad we’re on the same page.” Stan sighed. “Now tell me  _ exactly _ what happened.”

 

\--------

 

Trigger rolled over to his side.

“Ohh,” he moaned. His head felt fuzzy. He shook his head back and forth to clear it. Trigger reached up to hold his forehead, only to find it held back. 

“What the-” Trigger pulled his arm up again and heard a metallic jingle as he moved it. “Am I-” He opened his eyes and looked up at his arm. “I’m chained to a wall.”

Reaching down for his belt, he felt the empty space at his side where his radio used to be. 

“Crud.” Trigger huffed. He closed his eyes and covered them with his unchained arm. “I need to figure out how to get out of here.” He rubbed his face again and paused. Moving his hand further down his face, he felt it rise and extend several inches away from where his nose used to be. He reached the end and poked it. 

“Oh my god.” Trigger whispered. He shot up and held his nose in his hand. “Is this- This is a muzzle.” He patted the end and felt a cold, wet nose. “I have a muzzle.”  His hand shook as he pulled it away. 

Then the hand shot to his shoulder. It stung slightly when he touched it. It was sloppily wrapped, but tied together nonetheless. 

“The kid.” He realised. “That kid from the yard must have bit me and dragged me in here.” He looked away from his shoulder quickly scanned the room. “Back in the house.”

His eyes locked on the form of the child asleep on the couch. He realised it was the kid he tried to bring to the base camp. 

“Kid!” Trigger whispered. He looked around the room again and waited to see if anyone came at the sound of his voice. No one did. 

“Kid!” Trigger whispered again, louder. The kid on the couch rustled in his sleep. “Yeah, kid, get up!” The boy murmured something in his sleep and rolled over. “Come on kid, I believe in you.”

The kid rubbed his eyes and opened them. 

“Hello?” He asked in a quiet voice. 

“Hi!” Trigger smiled. “Hi! I need you to help me, okay kid? You got that?”

“Leave my kid alone, Jeffery.” Cut in a loud, raspy voice.

Trigger turned to it. Behind the couch now stood two figures in a wide doorway. He immediately recognized the shorter figure in front as the girl who attacked him in the yard. But it was the broader figure behind her that caught Trigger’s attention. He looked a lot different from the mug shots now, but Trigger knew his face from months of tracking and researching and digging around. 

He slowly raised his hand and pointed it at the older man. 

“You.” He accused. “You’re Stanford Pines.”

“Yeah. What of it?” The creature Trigger assumed was Stanford Pines crossed his arms and raised his chin defensively. Trigger pulled himself close to the wall and stood up best he could with his arm handcuffed to the leg of the cabinet next to him. 

“You’re under arrest for theft.” Trigger announced in the most official voice he could muster. Then he looked down at his hand and shook it so that the metal would ring loudly. “And kidnapping a government agent.” 


	17. Chapter 17

 

Trigger stood there in the living room, waiting for the elderly man to respond to him. The man had crossed his arms and was giving him a long look. Trigger shuffled uncertainly. A very long look. 

Finally, the man, or at least, what Trigger assumed was at one point a man, uncrossed his thick forearms and placed them on his hips. 

“You're arresting me?” He asked. There was a slight curl on his lips, like he was trying to hide a smile, but wasn’t fully committed to the idea. The man walked around the couch and placed himself several feet away from where Trigger was chained to the wall. He seemed taller up close, and was definitely broader in real life than he was in any photo. There was a pair of stone wings folded behind his back, and a tail that swung back and forth along the floor. It reminded Trigger of the way a cat’s tail moved as it watched birds from a window. 

The man knelt down and gestured to where Triggers hand was cuffed to a piece of furniture.

“It looks to me that you're in no place to be arresting anybody.” He pointed out. 

“Just wait till I get out of here.” Trigger shot back. “My partner and I are going to throw your scary hide behind bars.”

“Sure you are kid.” The man said, his yellow eyes gleaming with amusement. He rose a taloned hand to ruffle Trigger’s hair, but Trigger jumped away from the hand. 

“Grunkle Stan?” Cut in a tiny voice. The man in front of Trigger gave him one last look before turning his attention to the boy on the couch. 

“Yeah Dipper?” He asked. Stan pushed himself off the floor and made his way over to the couch where to four-legged child rested. The kid was pushing himself off the couch and struggling to stabilize his feet. Stan offered him a steadying hand, and he took it.

“What is that guy doing here?” Dipper asked. He let go of Stan’s hand and took a careful step towards Trigger. 

“Guy?” Trigger mouthed to himself. 

“Abducting children, among other things.” Stan answered Dipper’s question. 

“What?!” Dipper jumped back. 

“No!” Trigger yelled. He pointed at Stan angrily. “No. No, that’s not true.” He turned to the two kids in the room. “He’s taking things out of context.”

“Excuse me?” The girl cried. The teenage canine creature took a furious step forward and placed herself in the middle of the room. “You’re trying to play off your kidnapping of Dipper as ‘out of context’?!”

“Me?!” Dipper echoed. He turned to Wendy and gestured at himself wildly. “He tried to kidnap me?” He whispered. 

“Yeah he did.” Wendy whispered back. “You weren’t awake though- I think your concussion knocked you out pretty bad dude.” 

“The kid has a concussion?!” Trigger shouted. “Then that’s an even better excuse to get him out of this house!”

“You are not taking my kids anywhere.” Stan shot back. 

“You shouldn’t even have kids, you criminal!” 

“Wait…” Dipper muttered to himself. A look of confusion fell across his face as he looked at the canine creature across the room. “Aren’t you one of those agents we saw earlier this summer?” Dipper asked. 

“Yes!” Trigger nodded. He tried to throw up his hands, but the cuffed pulled him back to the floor. “Agent Trigger, remember? You called me and my partner down from Washington because you thought something strange was happening here!”

Dipper took a moment to look down at his legs, then to all the people in the room. 

“Well, I mean, there’s no denying that  _ now _ .” Dipper conceded. “But yeah. I remember. I don’t see why I have to consider what you have to say now.”

“You know, that’s far, I understand you’re mad, kid. But we’re here now, and we’re here to help.”

“You just tried to help my nephew by kidnapping him.” Stan cut in. “I’m not sure anyone here wants any of your kind of help.”

“Again, out of context.” Trigger answered. He turned his attention back to Dipper. “Please just listen to what I have to say. Please Dipper.” Trigger pleaded. 

Dipper gave him a long look before shaking his head. 

“Sorry. I’m still getting over the fact that you're here. Like this.” Dipper explained. Trigger looked down at himself, and his body that was now covered in light brown fur. He could see where the kid was coming from. Trigger looked away from himself as he felt a wave of disbelief hit him. He pushed down the rush of fear down. There would be time to deal with it later.

“Yeah, no, that’s okay. I get that. I’m not really used to seeing myself like this either.” Trigger laughed uneasily.

“Oh no, not like that.” Dipper explained. “I’ve seen plenty of people change in the past few days. I meant I didn’t think you were alive. Mable and I were certain you got eaten by zombies.”

“What?” Trigger asked, taken aback.

“Yeah.” Dipper laughed uneasily. “Whoops.”

“Eaten?” Trigger cried again. He placed a hand on his head and looked down at the floor. Looking back at Dipper and Wendy, Stan stepped toward Trigger and clapped his hands loudly. Trigger remained motionless as he looked down at the floor. 

“Alright, nice job Dipper!” Stan clapped his hands together. “He’s dazed. Wendy, uncuff him from the fish tank and help me move him to the basement.”

“Basement?” Dipper asked. “The shack doesn’t have a basement.” He turned to Stan with a look of amazement. “Does it?”

Wendy snorted and unclipped the keys from her stolen belt. She quickly made her way behind Trigger and began to unhook his hand from the fishtank. 

“The shack doesn’t. But there’s some remnants of what the house was before it was the Mystery Shack that has a basement.”

“That barely makes sense. Do you mean your basement?” Dipper asked.

“Something like that.” Stan nodded. “Would you go get your sister and meet us in the gift shop? I’d rather only explain this once.” 

Dipper nodded and trotted over to the staircase. 

“What is in the basement?” Wendy asked as Dipper disappeared up the staircase.

“Kid, didn’t you just hear what I said to Dipper? Once.”

“Why?” Wendy asked. She unclipped the handcuff from the wooden leg and attached it to Trigger’s remaining wrist. “Do you not want to, or is it too late past your bedtime to explain more than once?” 

“There’s the attitude.” Stan sighed. He patted Wendy’s back and begun to make his way towards the gift shop. “Figured that’d come back sooner or later.”

Wendy stood up and pulled Trigger to his feet. The agent stood up numbly and let Wendy lead him toward the gift shop. 

“You think it ever left?” Wendy quipped. 

Stan turned his head and laughed softly. 

“Kid, you’re something.”

“Damn straight.” Wendy smiled. 

“Alright, enough with the swearing. I’m sure your dad wouldn’t like to hear about your dirty mouth.”

“You wouldn’t tell my dad.” Wendy laughed. She looked up at Stan and her face fell. “Right

Mr. Pines?”

“Kid, I love ya, but you’re only fifteen. If my ma wouldn’t let me swear, I’ll be damned if I let any kid under my roof do it either.”

Wendy rolled her eyes. 

“Whatever, Mr. Pines.” She pushed Trigger forward so that Stan could grab him. Stan grabbed the agent’s shoulder and he jumped under his touch.

“Hey!” Trigger yelled, suddenly aware. “Let me go!” 

“And here I was hoping the daze would last a little longer.” Stan sighed.

Trigger threw his elbow into Stan’s side and a large crack echoed through the room. Wendy jumped forward, arms outstretched, to catch Stan incase he collapsed. 

“Oh my god, Stan, are you okay?” She cried. Stan waved her off as he grabbed his side. 

“No, kid I’m fine.” He dismissed. He knocked at his ribcage and nodded at its deep thunk. “Stone skin, remember?”

“That was new information to me...” Trigger whinned. He pulled his elbow close to his side cradled it. 

“Oh, that’s what to loud crack was.” Wendy realized aloud. “You cracked your bone! Do you want some ice on that, blondie?” 

“Yeah…” Trigger whined. He looked up at Wendy with tears in his eyes. “I know you’re being sarcastic, but I’d really like that ice.” Trigger curled up and made a strange noise. Stan recognized the sound right away, but it Wendy a moment to realize he was trying to keep himself from crying.  

“Ugh,” Wendy looked down at Trigger and then to Stan. “Sh-should I?” 

“No, he’s playing it up.” Stan shook his head. Trigger whimpered, much like a puppy, and brought his elbow closer to himself. 

“I think it might be broken,” Trigger softly cried to himself. 

Wendy looked up at Stan with an uneasy gaze. Stan leaned back and let out a long huff. 

“You can bring a bag down to the basement with us.” Stan he finally conceded. 

Wendy nodded and skipped to the back of the gift shop, where and old cooler sat full of prepackaged ice. Looking down at Trigger, Stan watched as the man rocked himself back and forth. 

_ He can’t be in that much pain, can he? _ Stan wondered to himself. He released his grip on Trigger’s handcuffs and gave him a slight push forward. Trigger nearly fell over at the push, and stumbled to regain his balance. He eventually did, at least for a moment. Then his knees began to wobble together and he fell forward. Stan jumped forward and caught the man before he fell. 

“Aw shit…” Stan trailed off. He pulled Trigger up and helped him to his feet. The wolfman whimpered something unintelligible in what Stan assumed was either a thanks or a curse word. “Wendy?” Stan called out. 

“Yeah Mr. Pines?” 

“Would you go to the kitchen and grab some pain killers too?” 

“Consider it done.” Wendy answered. She pulled herself out of the large cooler and raced by, dropped the bag of ice at the two men’s feet. 

“Where you going Wendy?” Mabel called as the teen exited the gift shop.Stan turned to catch the red blur disappear around the corner, and Dipper pulling Mable into the gift shop in an old wagon. 

“Never mind man, I’ll be back in a second!” Wendy called as she raced towards the kitchen.

“Of course.” Dipper sighed. 

Mabel yawned and covered up her mouth with her hands. 

“What’s everybody doing up?” She asked sleepily. 

“This guy tried to kidnap your brother.” Wendy’s voice cut through the dark. A moment later, she reappeared back into the room, holding a large ibuprofen bottle in her hands. She tossed it to Stan and he placed it in his front jacket pocket. 

“What? Are you O-” Mabel paused as she yawned again. “Okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Dipper assured her. “I wasn’t really awake for it.”

“Really?” Mabel gave Dipper a sideways look. “Dipper, I can’t believe you slept through an attempted kidnapping. What the heck dude.”

“What? Come on, Mabel. Would you rather I got trauma from it?” 

“No, of course not. You’re just unbelievable sometimes.”  Mabel moved to playfully punch Dipper in the shoulder, but missed in her sleepy fog. “I’m just letting you know you missed a heck of a story.”

“I’m sure you both will have time to make plenty more of those.” Stan interjected. He turned and gestured to the vending machine. “LIke this one, starting now.”

“What do you mean?” Dipper asked. Stan didn’t answer. Instead, he punched a series of numbers into the machine’s keypad and took a step back. There was a click behind from somewhere behind the snack machine. A moment later, the vending machine swung forward, as if on a hinge. 

“Whoa!” Mabel jumped up excitedly in her wagon. “When were you going to tell us about that?” 

“Not for another week or two.” Stan muttered aloud. “Maybe never, if Ford’s still a jerk.” He muttered, much quieter so that the group behind him couldn’t hear. 

Dipper trotted forward peered down into the room behind the vending machine. 

“How did you build this?” Dipper asked. Stan snorted. 

“I didn’t.”

Dipper opened his mouth to ask more, but Stan brushed past him and lead the group into the space behind the wall before he could ask. Taken aback, Dipper puffed up his chest and trotted after his great uncle, totting Mabel’s wagon behind him. 

“Then who did?” Dipper continued to dig. He opened his mouth to asked more, but instead it slowly closed in a face that was something between confusion and disappointment. The room was concrete and grey, and the only distinguishing feature was an old elevator several footsteps away from the door. 

In short, the secret room they had entered was… plain. 

Mabel swam to the front of her tank and placed a hand on Dipper's shoulder. 

“This is so trippy.” Mabel whispered in his ears. 

“I know.” Dipper whispered back. 

“How long do you think he’s kept this hidden?” 

“I don’t know.” Dipper looked over to the elevator, which looked like it had been pulled straight out of a vintage steampunk era movie, minus the cool steampunk. 

“What are you two kids whispering about back there?” Stan called. 

Mabel and Dipper both jumped to attention, much like any other kids when their parents catch them red handed. 

“Nothing!” They both answered in unison. 

Stan chuckled deeply and shook his head back and forth. Making his way over to the elevator, he pressed a button and the big metal door slid open.

“Alright everybody, load up.”

“In there?” Trigger called out. “It looks like it can hardly hold the little girl's weight!”

“Naw, are you kidding? It’ll hold everybody just fine.” Stan brushed off. He escorted Trigger and himself inside, and the metal contraption dropped down a considerable distance. He turned around and looked at the faces of the kids in front of him. 

“Well?” Stan asked. “Aren’t you guys coming?” 

The trio of kid looked at each other nervously a shook their heads no. 

“Aw, come on.” Stan puffed. “This old thing is perfectly safe. See?” Stan grabbed the sides of the small elevator and began to shake in back and forth. It swung fiercely back and forth, creaking wildly as it banged against the walls and strained the cable suspending it. Trigger dropped to the floor of the contraption and began to scream in terror. Stan rolled his eyes and ceased shaking the elevator. 

“Will you knock it off?” Stan directed at Trigger. He turned to the three kids in front of him. “Come on guys, it’s just fine. I’ve been using this elevator for thirty years and never had a problem. You’ll all be fine, I promise.”

The three all shared one last look before carefully loading into the elevator. It dropped down a couple more inches, but it stayed in place. 

“This is further child endangerment.” Trigger whispered. 

“No one asked you.” Stan whispered back. He pushed Trigger against the wall and reached for an old lever against the elevator wall. There were three numbers printed on it, and Stan began to twist it so that it landed on the third and final number.

“What is this place?” Dipper asked as Stan fumbled with the controls. The elevator’s doors clicked shut as Stan finished adjusting the antique lever. It shook in place, then began to slowly lower the contraption into the ground. 

“The basement.” Trigger beat Stan to the punch. “That’s where you’ve been keeping the device, right?”  

“Device?” Dipper asked. He looked up to Stan with wide eyes. The older man swallowed uneasily. 

“Yeah, that.” Stan managed. “I’ve been meaning to tell you kids about that.”

“Why didn’t you just tell us about the basement?” Mabel spook up. “And follow up question- Why did you decide to hide it behind a vending machine?”

“Well, the secret door came with the house. I just… added to it.” Stan explained. “And the vending machine was the only thing that looked like it would cover up the door.”

“But I thought mom and dad told us you built this house.”

“Oh no,” Stan shook his head. “A ‘Stan’ built this house, but me ‘Stan’ didn’t. Most structure is above me.”

“Than why did this ‘Stan’ build this?” Dipper inquired. 

“Because he was a psychopath.” Trigger answered. Wendy made a motion to pull away the bag of ice he held to his elbow and he pulled away from her, dejected. 

“He was… paranoid.” Stan explained. 

The elevator came to a stop, and the metal door slid open. The group squeezed out, and the loss of weight caused the elevator to jumped up several inches. 

Once out of the elevator, the group entered a large concrete room that resembled a bunker. It was lit by a series of fluorescent lights, which illuminated the space in a yellow-green light. There were three different doorways on the opposite side of the room. Two were large wooden doors, each with a metal plate on the door. One had the word ‘storage’ written on it in permanent marker, like it was meant to be engraved professionally later. The other door’s plate remained blank. Stan pulled one hand away from Trigger’s handcuffs gestured to the unmarked door. 

“This room is one of the only two in the entire shack I have no use for. The other one is on the floor above us, and I have no idea how to get in there.” Stan walked over to the door and pushed it open. The entire group looked inside and gazed upon the large glass wall separating the room in two halves.  Trigger immediately pushed back. 

“Oh no.” Trigger protested. 

“Oh yes.” Stan stated. He pushed Trigger forward the toward the glass, where the only door along the wall hung open. Stan pushed Trigger inside and the young agent fell towards the floor. 

“You can’t do this!” Trigger protested. 

Stan plucked the bottle of pills from his pockets and tossed it to Trigger. 

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re in the middle of changing into whatever it is affecting the whole town.  We got to cofine you. We can’t know what you’ll do if you lose control like Wendy and myself did.” Stan closed the door and twisted the one way lock the ‘secured’ position. “What did you call it, child endangerment? Wouldn’t want that to happen.”

Trigger’s face twisted into a bitter expression. 

“This is illegal imprisonment!” Trigger yelled as Stan began to leave the room.

“Don’t answer him.” Stan whispered to Wendy, Mabel, and Dipper as he exited the room. “We’re going to pretend that he’s behind soundproof glass.”

“Is that really going to work?” Mabel whispered back. 

“No! I can still hear you guys!” Trigger yelled. 

Stan gave Trigger one last look before pulling the door shut. 

“At least turn the light on!” Trigger yelled weakly through the door. 

“There’s a light switch in the cell!” Stan yelled back.

“Really?” Wendy whispered. “That’s really nice.” 

“No, of course not.” Stan told her. “There’s an old lamp and a box of lightbulbs under the cot.”

“Oh,” Wendy sighed. 

“Alright kids, it’s time I show what I’ve been keeping in the basement.” Stan pointed them towards the third and final doorway in the room. It had no door in its frame and was illuminated by the same kind of lights that lite the room they were currently in. It only contained a stairway that lead further down, away from the surface. 

“It’s time I showed you kids the portal.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is literally the longest chapter I have ever written, and honestly, I'm still partially shocked that I post this all as one chapter in the first place. This was originally posted as a celebration piece for the two-year anniversary of the original publish date. As usual, enjoy!

 

“The what?” Dipper asked excitedly. His eyes widened, giving off a strange gleam in the artificial light. 

Seeing the intense display of curiosity on Dipper’s face, Stan immediately regretted his choice of words.  _ Stupid! _ The gargoyle scolded himself.  _ Why would you start with the portal?! _

“Hold you horses kid.” Stan eased him, laughing nervously as he did so. He began making his way down the stairs, twisting his head back so that he was still able to address the group. Dipper followed behind, eagerly, while Mabel hung leisurely from his back. Wendy looked down at Mabel's water filled wagon for a moment in disgust, before carefully picking it up and ever so slowly taking it down the steps. 

“Now, I know this is unexpected,” Stan began. He was talking slowly, thinking precisely about how he wanted to present his words. Dipper and Mabel watched his face carefully. Their guardian's expression, which was usually cocky and sure of itself, looked uncharacteristically uneasy. “And, quite frankly, this isn’t the way I wanted to introduce this whole situation to you kids.” Mabel and Dipper intently leaned forward. Stan looked down at their eager eyes and felt of another brush of anxiety hit him. 

“Um,” He continued. He open and closed his palms a couple of times, in a fruitless attempt to put words into his mouth. If it wasn’t for the stoney texture of his hands, he was sure they would be clammy with sweat. He looked up at Wendy, who, despite the acceleration of the night's events, seemed uninterested in the majority of the ordeal. Or maybe, just tired behind comprehension. All things considered, neither would be out of place. The old man swallowed once, and returned his gaze to the wide eyed gaze of his niece and nephew. 

“Do you two remember the name on the deed to the Mystery Shack?” Stan finally stated. “The one who signed for it at the bottom of the page?” 

“Yeah,” Dipper answered. The little cervitaur cocked his head to the side. “What about it?” His ears twitched slightly as Dipper waited for his response. Stan seemed relieved at this, and continued with his explanation. 

“Alright. Do you remember what  _ exactly  _ the name was?”

“Yours?” Mabel spoke up.

“No, what name was on the paper. Think kids.” Stan made a playful gesture to his temple.

“Stanford Pines.” Dipper answered. “That’s what it says on the deed, I think.”

“Right.” Stan nodded.

“What difference does that make? We already said it was under your name.” 

“That’s where you're wrong. The name, in this case, makes all the difference.” Stan replied. He reached the end of the staircase, but he remained at the bottom, making it so that the group could not see into the room behind him. He spread his wings in what would have been described as casually, if it were not for the fact it was very deliberate. Mabel ducked her head around as he did so, trying to catch a glimpse at what was behind her Great Uncle. Dipper was too preoccupied with the conversation to notice. 

“But that’s your name.” Dipper debated back. 

“Unless it’s not,” Mabel chimed in. She beamed at Stan, convinced that she had solved the riddle before her brother, then immediately returned to trying to peek behind his lumbering figure. Dipper opened his mouth to dismiss the theory, but Stan beat him to it. 

“Bingo.” Stan answered. 

“But your name is Stan!” Dipper exclaimed. He tossed his hands into the air in frustration. 

“But is that my full name?” Stan dug further. 

“No!” Dipper debated further. “It’s Stanford!”

“No it’s not!” Stan shot back, more nervously than playfully.

“What?” Wendy finally looked up. 

“That’s right!” Stan smiled nervously. “Stanford’s not my name. Surprise!” He exclaimed, smiling nervously. He threw both his arms out in a theatrical manner to cover the uneasy nerves that had overcome what little confidence he still had when he began his explanation. 

There was a long, awkward pause as the group looked at the elderly creature before them. As the silence continued, Stan stayed frozen in place, looking down at the children before him with anxious patience. 

“Then who are you supposed to be?” Wendy finally asked. 

“Stanley Pines.” Stan said quietly. He was still frozen in the dramatic pose he had taken up at the base of the staircase. 

“Then why tell us your name was Stanford all summer?” Dipper questioned the older man. The boy had taken a step back, placing both arms behind himself to push Mabel back further. He paused, and squinted his eyes. “Our whole lives?” 

“Um,” Stan paused, and looked over the varying array of emotions displayed by the group. Wendy looked down at Stan with a fierce look of accusation, which matched the uneasy, glowering stare he was receiving from Dipper. And Mabel, ever the sweet optimist, was looking up at her uncle with a genuine wonder, begging him to continue. He took a deep breath, and carried on. 

“Because I had too.” 

Forgetting the wagon in her hands, Wendy tossed her arms up in frustration. The water quickly splashed about the staircase, followed by the clattering of the metal wagon. Dipper quickly jumped out of it’s way and hugged the wall, and watched in the following moments as it rolled into Stan’s legs. He made a slight face as it slammed into its ankles, but remained frozen in his pose. 

“What an explanation!” Wendy exclaimed sarcastically. “That just explains it all!” She placed both her hands on her hips. 

“Ow...” Stan murmured.

“What was that?” Wendy asked. 

“Ow!” Stan leaned down and pulled up his pant leg. Where the wagon had collided his his leg, there was a chip in his stoney skin. Mabel gasped and covered her mouth. 

“Does it hurt?” Mabel quickly exclaimed, dismissing the previous tension. She reached forward to touch the chip only to have both Dipper and Stan wave her off.

“Mabel!” Dipper hissed quietly. Stan spoke louder, partially to soothe Mabel, and partially to cover up Dipper’s nervous Drabble. 

“No, I’m okay sweetie.” Stan hushed her. 

“No you’re not! That looked like it hurt.” Mabel reached forward to touch it again. Stan waved her off again and began to examine his leg.

“I’m sure it will grow back.”

Wendy dropped her tough facade for a moment and lowered her eyebrows in concern. 

“Are you sure?” The wolf-like creature asked. 

Stan paused for a moment and looked closer into the nick. He poked at it once and rubbed the granite-like texture. 

Then, he shrugged. 

“Probably.” 

He cocked his head to the side and examined it further. 

“Maybe.” Stan smiled, and raised his gaze to look at the brood of monsters before him. “Do you kids think that if if fill this with-”

“Stan, the name! You were telling us about the name!” Dipper yelled out in frustration. He threw up his arms in exasperation. Stan made a face, then let his pant leg drop to cover his ankle. 

“Right, yeah, sorry.” Stan apologized. He stood up, and opened up his wings again. Mabel immediately realized this and cursed herself for not looking behind him when she had the chance. “Where was I again?” 

“What did you have to do?!” Dipper yelled, exasperated. 

“Oh yeah. Just before… that.” Stan trailed off. He rubbed the back of his head and thought for a moment. Then, he spoke up.“You all have siblings, and you all would do anything for them, right?” 

There was a murmur of agreement from the group of children around him. 

“What I’m doing down here is the very same thing.” He stepped back and dropped his wings, allowing the group to enter the room at the base of the stairs. Dipper took a step forward slightly, until Mabel pushed him forward, eager to peek into the space.

What they entered was a small room, taken up mostly by a large control panel that covered the wall in front of them. A window covered the most of wall, and allowed view into a large room just beyond the glass. Dipper quickly took notice of the series of buttons and controls over the dash, while Mabel’s gaze landed on the framed picture of her family on the panel. 

They all looked over the room in silence, until Mabel’s gaze fell somewhere else. She urged Dipper forward, closer to a door way that presumably lead to the next room. Lurching her head over, Mabel examined the side the of the control panel, and flashed a look of recognition. 

“Stan, that symbol right there looks like your tattoo!” Mabel exclaimed. She reached over to touch the side of the machine, only to have Stan quickly grasp her wrist before her fingers were able to brush the discolored metal. Suspended only a finger nail’s length from the contraption, Mabel suddenly felt the waves of heat emanating from it. 

“Don’t touch that.” Stan warned. “You’ll end up with something more permanent than a tattoo.” 

"Oh," Mabel reeled back, pulling her hand close to her heart. With a quick turn, she cocked her head to meet eye’s with her uncle. "Is that what happened to your back Grunkle Stan?" She whispered. Stan didn't answer, but instead gave her a strange look, that held a mix of grim seriousness and concern, and a hint of quiet sorrow. However, the moment was cut short as Dipper made a loud announcement. 

“What’s this?” Dipper called, quickly stepping away from Stanley. He made his way over to the control panel as Mabel quickly readjusted herself on his back to keep from falling off. He reached over the metal box and pulled a journal from a small stack of books on its surface. He flipped it over in his hands, revealing a golden handprint on the cover bounding it together. Dipper released a small gasp as he looked at the number written in ink on its cover. 

Number one. 

“This is journal one.” He whispered a loud. Dipper looked at it for a moment in awe, before turning to Stan. “This is journal one.” The cervituar’s voice turned harsh. “Where did you get this?” Dipper demanded. The boy’s expression was accusative, but Stan could hardly take him seriously due to the erect pointing of his tiny ears and tail. 

Stan stepped forward and reached for the book. Dipper pulled it back, protectively pressing it close to his chest. Rolling his eyes, Stan pointed with one of his taloned fingers to the novel’s cover. 

“Take a look inside.” Stan chipped. His eyes shimmered giddily as Dipper opened the cover of the book. Quickly scanning the inside cover, Dipper’s eyes widened in curiosity. He pulled the book closer to his face to get a better look at it. Mabel pulled herself over her brother, eager to catch a glimpse of the book for herself.  

“Well, what does it say?” Mabel urged her brother, shaking his arm.

“Property of Stanford Pines.” Dipper read aloud. He tore his eyes away from the book for just a moment to lock eyes with Stanley. “Where did you get this?” 

“It’s sort of a family heirloom.” Stanley teased. 

If it was possible, Dipper’s eyes opened even larger than they were before. 

“No.” Dipper gushed. He quickly scanned it again and met eyes with Stanley. 

Deciding she was over the wait, Mabel crawled over her brother's upper torso and laid herself over the top of his head. Finally able to see the book, she reached forward and pointed to the name that was written on the cover of the book. 

“That’s the same hand writing on the deed.” She observed. She paused for a moment, looking over the page with her brother. Then, she looked up at Stanley. “If you’re not Stanford, why pretend to be?” She asked, cocking her head to her side.

Stan huffed heavily and rocked his head back. He slid toward the control panel along the wall, and let himself drop on top of it.

“It’s a bit of a story,” Stan mussed. He pulled his legs up onto the contraption, so that his pose resembled something of that of the statues found on tall buildings in old cities. He waited for the children settle before he readied himself to give his tell. 

The room was so tense before Stan started, that one could almost hear a pin drop.

Then, out of nowhere, Stanley laughed. 

“I’m sorry kids, I’m actually not sure where to start.” Stanley announced to the group. “I’ll just have to start at the beginning.”

“Well in that case, we got time. I’m going to go upstairs and refill the wagon.” Wendy announced. The entire group jumped, forgetting she had been hanging in the stairwell until her voice buzzed through the room. Stanley shook his head and held up an arm to for her to stop. 

“No need. I brought the kiddy pool in here a couple days ago.” Stan gestured to the back corner, where the plastic pool from outside was now residing. 

“How in…” Dipper shook his head. “Why?” 

“Two reasons actually.” Stan reasoned. “The first was incase you two ever got down here, and we needed to place Mabel somewhere. The other was because sometimes I bring Gompers down for company.”

“Bleh-heh-heh-heh!”

Mabel and Dipper jumped, turning their attention to the westernmost corner of the room, that was partially hidden by the shadows caused by a burnt of light. There stood Stan’s goat, resting peacefully atop a stack of science and math textbooks. One of these such books hung out of the animal’s mouth. 

“That’s where you went!” Mabel exclaimed. She turned to Wendy, excitedly, and held her arms out much like how an infant does when it wants to be carried. Stan and Dipper watched as Wendy strolled over and swept Mabel from Dipper’s back and placed her in the pool. 

“Alright then, now that we’re all settled...” Stan ushered the group in. He leaned back, and gave a long look to the framed photograph of him and the twins that sat on the panel. “My story starts in the 1950’s.”

Wendy threw her head back and groaned.

\----------------------------------------------------------------

Trigger leaned against the wall of his cell, sitting close to the tiny lamp he had found under the cot. 

“Stupid old man, telling me about a fake lightswitch.” He muttered. Pulling a painkiller bottle from his pocket, he dropped a couple from the container and swallowed them angrily. Slamming his fist with the bottle into the floor, the agent threw his head back and scowled angrily at the ceiling. The canine ears he had grown laid flat against his head. He let his claws rub against the floor as he open and closed his fist, when his ears suddenly perked. 

“What in the lord…?” Trigger muttered aloud. 

He looked down to where his hand had touched the floor and leaned in close to it. He rubbed, and let his fingers rub four long, deep grooves in the cement. 

“Are these claw marks?” He wondered. The agent quickly scanned the room and noticed a series of similar claw marks all around the walls and floor. In a strange kind of awe, Trigger looked up and spotted a great majority of the marks on the ceiling.

“What was in here before me?” He whispered.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

_ Hungry... _

A reptilian creature stalked forward, letting its chest drop close to the floor. Its skin was tight, and visible ribs and bones could be seen across its slender body. There was a tag hanging from one of the creature’s legs, which was faded beyond literacy, except for the word ‘female’ written in bold letters at the tag’s base.

The female lizard stalked outside her former prison, sniffing puzzledly at the door. 

_ Free? _

The creature looked back up the stairs, and her big head drooped sadly to the floor.  

_ No…. Still inside. _

Pacing about the room, the tiny, scrappy creature sniffed the floor, waving her long, spiked tail behind herself. She froze midway across the room and looked down a long staircase reaching further into the ground. The reptilian creature didn’t have any ears, but if she did, they would most certainly be perked. 

From the top of the steps, she could hear a series of voices. They were partially composed of a repeating series of high pitched younglings, but the creature noted that an older, much deeper voice carried most of the conversation. 

The monster strode forward, placing her front feet on the wall. It continued to climb until it reached the ceiling, then descended into the basement. Once at the bottom, the reptile poked out her head, and quickly found herself in shock. There, conversing before it, sat creatures she hadn’t seen years, even before she had been imprisoned by the six fingered man.

She hung off the ceiling in silence, watching the party’s oldest member. Among this group of predators and prey, this one seemed to be directing a presence that the other simply accepted, and leaned forward to listen to his words. 

“And as Stanford was pulled into the portal,.” The biggest one continued from his perch, “He threw his journal at me. I suppose he meant for me to destroy it, but I knew it was my only chance to get him back. So I didn’t.” 

THe gargoyle then reached over and fuddled with several of the colored pieces that lay across the strange stone he sat upon. Suddenly, the room behind him lit up, as if a tiny sun had risen inside it. The creature cocked her head to the side and stared at it for a second before returning her attention to the elderly gargoyle. He noticed a look of alarm on the young ones faces, and smiled to reassure them. “Don’t worry kids- this is just a power switch. It won’t activate the portal until we turn some precautionary keys and a another button in the next room on.” He paused for a moment, then continued with his tale. “I’ve spent the last thirty years rebuilding Stanford’s portal, and it’s about done, as far as I can figure.”

He was in the middle of a story, as far as the reptilian creature could figure. The female creature couldn’t understand what the stoney monstrosity was saying, but the younger ones seemed to be enamored by his words. Sure, the attention he controlled from the prey the she could understand. If she was being talked to by something three or four times larger than herself, the creature was sure she would listen too. But the unaltered attention from the werewolf? She couldn’t imagine how the two creatures had formed such an alliance that allowed them to keep from tearing out each other's throats. 

She would have made herself known to them, if it wasn’t for the nagging fear that the two predators would easily stamp the life out of her for intruding on their unnatural pact. 

The monster tore its attention away from the group of humanoid creatures and turned her attention to the space encircling the mermaid. Behind the water thriving mammal, there sat a large goat atop a pile of strange colored woods.

The creature hanging from the ceiling grinned a large grin, revealing long, yellowed teeth that lurched from her mouth. It had been so long since she had last ate, and the furry prey sat just feet away from her. She licked her lips, and crawled toward it. 

The animal was unaware of her presence, as it was chewing mindlessly on one of the books around it. She could almost feel the blood pumping through the hoofed animals veins as she grew closer. She unfurled her claws and pulled them out of the rocky ceiling. Surely, the brood beneath her wouldn’t notice the disappearance of the single goat, right?

The reptile let it’s other front claw drop from the ceiling, so that she hung down from only her back two. She reached forward, so that her front claws inched closer to the prey before her. Her tail swung back and forth, eagerly, as she reached for it. But in her years of imprisonment, she had gotten sloppy, as skills do when you neglect to use them. In her excitement, her spiked tail scraped against the stone, giving off a light, hollow sound. Thankfully, the other monsters didn’t pick up on the acute noise. Unfortunately, the animal she was so desperately trying to reach picked up on it almost immediately.  

Gompers looked up from it’s paper meal and met eyes with the scaled creature before her claws closed around it’s head. It’s red eyes looked longingly at the goat, jaws open and ready to bite.

The goat bleated loudly in a panic, and quickly bolted  into the other room. 

The other monsters quickly turned, catching the blue, reptilian creature hanging from the ceiling, posed guiltily in its place.  Mabel screamed, quickly swimming to the other side of her pool. Dipper tiptoed backwards to the opposite wall, eyes as big as a pair of dinner plates. 

“What is that?!” Stan shouted. He jumped off his perch, swinging open a wing to protectively cover Dipper. 

Dipper quickly ducked under his Grunkle’s wing, and gazed upon the creature in a sort of terrified admiration. 

“It’s a chupacabra!” He gasped. Dipper looked up at Stanley, grabbing his wing and shaking it slightly. “Be careful with it. It could be feral.” The cervitaur warned. 

Stan gave the creature a long look, noting the animals long claws and teeth, and spiked spines along its back. 

“You don’t say.” He muttered. Stan swung his arm back and ushered the child back again. With the other arm, the gargoyle slowly reached for Mabel and Wendy. Suddenly, with the movement of the arm, the creature sprung to life. She pulled her lips back and hissed, revealing a long forked tongue. 

Mabel and Stanley screamed at hearing the chupacabra’s human like scream. Dipper jumped back and covered his face in his hands. He cracked them open a little bit though, so that he could watch the events play out before him. The only one in the room who didn’t jump back was wendy, who han pulled her arm back and punched the vile thing right between her bugged  eyes. 

The animal recoiled in surprise, releasing her grip on the ceiling. She dropped into the pile of books beneath her, sending several loose papers flying. 

“Gotcha!” Wendy cried, diving to catch the lizard. The chupacabra screeched in horror at seeing the larger predator pounce at her with its claws outstretched. Before the werewolf could catch the intruder, it scampered away in spray of papers and book covers. Wendy watched as the blue reptile slipped through her fingers, darting into the room that lead deeper into the basement. 

“It’s going to eat the goat!” Dipper cried. 

“Dipper, it’s just scared, I’m sure it’s not going to eat Gompers!” Stan yelled over the chaos. He knew very well that his words were probably not true, but he was not going to be responsible for sending his kids into a panic. Dipper jumped under Stanley’s wing so that he could look him in the eyes. 

“Oh, yes it is.” Dipper assured him. “Its name means goat sucker!”

“That thing’s going to eat Gompers!” Mabel cried hysterically. 

“Not on my watch!” Wendy cried. She darted into the next room, following the lizards path. 

“Wendy, wait!” Stanley cried after her. “There’s exposed wires in there!” He darted off after the teenager, knowing all too that Dan would have his head if anything were to happen to his little girl. Before he disappeared behind the door, he shot one last look toward the twins.

“Stay there!” The old man warned. 

Mabel and Dipper made eye contact as he disappeared, and without any words, silently agreed to follow anyway. 

The twins peeked into the next room, Mabel perched upon her brother back. There, among the pandemonium, the twins looked upon a mighty structure, which took up the majority of the room. Wires and tubes led to it, several of which had been severed, and hung out of the ceiling in places. There were a pair of control panels in the room as well, one of which ran along the right side of the room. Three keys sat atop it, each placed purposefully inside an ignitions bay. The other panel was a single red button that stood upon a metal stand in the middle of the room. Not that you could see it anyhow. 

Among the flying papers the filled the room, the chupacabra darted about, alternating it’s movements between following Gompers and and avoiding the clutches of Wendy and Stanley. Spare tools and countless papers covered the floor, and only a few had be displaced by the chase taken place before the twins. 

“Go get him guys!” Mabel cheered, shaking her fist excitedly through the air. Stanley shot them both a look. 

“I told you both to stay back!” He shouted. He dived for the lizard, only to have it dart easily out of his grasp. He slid forward, to where Gompers coward behind the stand with the red button. Seeing that its pursuer was close, the goat darted away. The chupacabra quickly followed suit. 

“I got it!” Wendy cried. She jumped after it, chasing the cryptid across the room and closer to the control panel along the right wall. 

Gompers jumped onto the panel, his terrified eyes locked onto the reptile that was growing closer to himself. He bleated in a panic, crying out for help. The chupacabra dashed for her prey, before catching a flash of red fur in the corner of her eye. The reptile dropped to her back legs and shook her tail, as if she was going to jump. Catching the movement, Wendy jumped to intercept the creature mid-air. However, the little blue lizard darted to the left at the last moment, leaving the teenager to crash into the control panel. Wendy grasped at the corner of the contraption with her front paws, leaving her side to slide into two of the sockets which held the keys in place. They didn’t hold against her weight, and ripped the ignition switches straight from the machine. The wires that held them in place ripped as well, sending tiny sparks that quickly engulfed Wendy. 

Wendy yelped in surprise and quickly jumped off the contraption. Gompers, now pinned  between the wall of sparks and the wall, bleated loudly. The goat stumbled back, tripping over the final key. It turned as his fell over, sending a loud surge through the machine. 

The room was quiet for a minute. 

A moment later, it surged to life, and sudden waves of light shot through the tubes leading up to the portal. The symbols on the machine began glowing, flashing in an unfollowable order. Lastly, the button in the center of the room lit up, glowing softly against the harsh light behind it. 

Stanley immediately noted these changes and darted away from the portal. Wendy looked up from where she stood, gazing upon the metal ring with awe. 

“Woah,” She gasped. Stanley grabbed her arm on his dash backwards and pulled her with him. He stopped behind a yellow line in the floor, which was barely visible beneath the debris that cluttered the basement. 

Gompers jumped from his perch, scampering quickly to cower behind his owner. 

The chupacabra prowled the opposite side of the room, pacing back and forth along the back wall. She snapped her teeth and bore her claws. It almost looked as if the monster was putting on a show for group before it. 

“Oh, taught me again.”  Wendy spat at it. She took a step forward to she ruch after it, only to have Stan tighten his grip around her forearm. 

“No!” Stanley warned, yanking her back. “Don’t spook the lizard.” 

Wendy pulled her arm from his grip. 

“Why not?” She hissed. 

“The button.” Stanley whispered back. He gestured toward the chupacabra, as it swung around the metal staff holding up the control. “If that stunted crocodile presses that button, it could activate the portal.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Mabel asked. Her and Dipper appeared at Stanley and Wendy’s side, eager to join the excitement. 

 “No. Well, yes.” Stanley answered. “But not right now! There’s more than one wire that is fried right now, and I haven’t the slightest idea to where the portal actually leads.”

“But we can’t just leave the blood sucker down here!” Dipper argued. Stanley made a strange face, and pressed his tongue into his cheek.  _ Oh course the skanky lizard is a freakin’ vampire.  _ Stanley thought to himself.  _ Why wouldn’t it be?  _

“Then I’m going to get it.” Stan assured the group. 

“Stan, I’m faster than you. Just let me-” Stan held up his hand and shook it, cutting Wendy’s words off. 

“You also have skin that can be bitten through. I’ll go.” Stanley assured his kids. “Besides, I didn’t spend two and a half years working as an animal control officer for nothing.” A humorous smile spread across his face, which put the group at ease. 

He took a step forward, placing himself over the line. Stanley took a deep breath as he did so, and felt or rush of uneasiness hit him as his foot touched the other side. 

The vampiric creature watched him from the other side of the room. 

“Go and get him Grunkle Stan!” Mabel cheered. Stan turned and hushed her, before turning to face the creature once again. The intruder stuck out its tongue, which turned up and stuck to its own eyeball. 

“See Stan? It’s dumb. You got this.” He muttered to himself. Stanley willed himself forward, and to his disappointment, he legs carried him toward it. The blue lizard dropped to her hunches Stanley approached. The bristles along her spine rose like hair, peeking like an aggressive dog’s hair would. 

“You’re all right.” Stan soothed in a calm voice. The lizard opened her mouth and hissed loudly. She retreated closer to the pole, wrapping her tail around it. Stanley preceded to press closer, whispering calming words that the animal couldn’t understand

_ I’m going to get eaten,  _ The chupacabra thought to herself. With the younger creatures hovering in front of the doorway, the reptile found herself trapped with the larger predator. She wrapped herself tighter around the grey pole, perching herself so that her head rested centimeters from the red switch. She open her mouth and spat at the elderly gargoyle. 

“Hey girl, you’re okay.” Stanley soothed, holding out both hands in front of him with his palms showing. 

The lizard raised her front claws to place them on the top of the pole to raise herself further, and watched the grey creature jump. She quickly pulled them back and looked behind her, expecting some larger creature to greet her. Surely nothing less would make such a large hunter twinge with fear. But when the chupacabra turned, there was no such creature there. She returned her attention to the gargoyle. He had torn his yellow eyes away from her, and instead had them locked on where her claws hovered several inches from the strange red dot. 

She reached for the button a second time, prompting the larger predator to jump again. 

_ He doesn't want me touching this glowing dot, _ The chupacabra realized. She puffed out her chest, and looked the gargoyle in its big, pupiless eyes.  _ Let's see how much he likes it when I start pressing it. _

The cryptid placed both of its front claws on the button, and began pressing it, over and over and over. 

Sparks instantly began flying from the frayed wires that lined the walls, quickly creating a yellow fountain that filled the room. Dipper, Mabel, and Wendy all rose their arms to cover their themselves from the fiery shower. Stanley moved to do so as well, before realizing they had little impact on his grey skin.  

A thunderous boom echoed through the room as the portal activated. Waves of colors erupted from it, swirling together as if a rainbow had been shoved into the contraption. Then, with another boom, the portal changed colors. First, a bright green. Then another boom and it turned deep purple. Another, and it turned varying shades of  orange. 

“Oh no,” Stan muttered. He stumbled back and beat his wings, taking flight. The gargoyle turned his back to the portal, only to find himself suspended in the air. “What in the…” 

A pulse emanated from the portal, sending shock waves across the room. Stanley was thrown forward, slamming hard into the rafters above. Below him, the kids were thrown back as well.

Mabel and Dipper were torn from each other and slammed into opposite sides of the wall behind them. Wendy was forced between them, and slammed hard into window separating the portal from the staircase. The glass shattered beneath her weight, sending the teenager backwards with a shower of transparent shards. She would have slammed into the floor if it were not for the sudden stillness that took over the room.

For a single, chilling minute, everything was frozen where it stood.  Debris and creatures alike were stuck hanging midair. 

Then a low, deep rumble emanated from the portal. Everything dropped, including the Pines troop. Wendy’s head hit the metal control panel, and she tumbled backwards, unconscious. 

“Grunkle Stan!” Mabel yelled as loud as she could so that she could be heard over the rumble of the portal. She was sprawled across the floor, her hair strewn about widely. “What’s going on?” 

“I don’t know!” Stan yelled. “The portal shouldn’t even working with all these wires cut! It shouldn’t even be able to fix itself on a location!”

“Then where is it opening?” Dipper screamed. 

Stan looked away from the kids and locked his sight on that of the portal. 

“Anywhere! Anywhere in any universe!” Stanley shouted. “Who knows where else!” 

The elderly man tried to pull himself down from the rafters only to have another wave pulse out from the portal. 

The chupacabra had long since fled from the scene, but the portal continued to swirl in and out of different colors. As the portal shifted, it seemed to keep settling on a certain blue passageway.  Stan seemed to recognize it, and looked at the portal longingly whenever it would appear. However, the shade would quickly disappear behind another another. 

“Oh geese.” Dipper muttered under his breath. The force from the portal had him pinned hard against the wall, but his hand that rested just to his left could move freely. Dipper looked forward and discovered the appendage was sheltered by a metal barrel several feet ahead of him. He lowered himself and lept behind it, separating himself from the harsh gravity the portal created. He looked down at his hands and smiled. 

“Awesome,” He whispered to himself. Dipper peeked over the barrel and toward the portal. It was on the pink dimension again. He took a breath a swallowed hard. “Somebody’s gotta turn that thing off.” 

Dipper stepped out from behind the barrel, and immediately felt the weight hit him. He stumbled back, but managed to catch himself. 

“Dipper!” Mabel called. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to shut it off!” Dipper yelled. He struggled forward, placing a heavy hoof onto the floor in front of him. His legs shook unsteadily under the pressure, but miraculously kept from buckelling. 

“Dipper, wait!” Stanley yelled. “Don’t step over that line-You’ll get pulled in!” Stanley struggled to pull himself from the rafters, only to have another wave force him back. 

“Somebody’s gotta turn it off!” Dipper shouted back. He struggled forward, placing another hoof in front of himself. 

“You won’t be able to that way! The emergency shut off was connected to the keys!” 

“Then I’ll unplug it!” Dipper yelled back. Stanley yelled something in return, but it was lost under the another earth shaking boom that came from the portal. Dipper braced himself for the following push back, and found himself sliding back several yards. He managed to catch himself, and continued to force himself forward. It was slow going, but eventually, he managed to place himself just inches from the cautionary tape that laid across the floor. 

“Dipper!” Stanley cried out again. “Just hang on! I’ll find another way!”

“We won’t have time!” Dipper yelled back. He looked behind him and locked eyes with his Great Uncle. Stanley’s eyes were pleading, and looked helplessly from his place among the rafters. 

“Kid, please!” Stanley continued. “I can’t lose any more family!”

“You won’t have too!”

Dipper tore his eyes away and looked toward Mabel, who looked at him easily as helplessly as Stanley did. But something else was in her eyes too. 

“You’ve got this Dipper!” Mabel cried. She was still lying beside the wall, her hair flying wildly around her as the portal pulled paper and tiny scraps into itself. She had tried to drag herself into the doorway several feet from herself, but between the force from the portal and the immobility of her tail, the going was painfully slow. “I believe in you!”

Dipper smiled and nodded, before turning his back to her. As he stepped over the line, he heard her call out on last time. 

“You better be careful bro-bro! I believe in you!”

The going was much faster once he stepped over the line. From this close, he could feel the suction from the portal. It was a strange sensation, crossing the line. The push he had felt on on the first side was completely lifted. In fact, it was reversed. A new force was now tugging eagerly at his skin and hair, making the later of which swirl crazily in front of his eyes. The portal had such a strong pull…  Dipper trotted forward carefully, leaving much of the weight in his hind legs as a kind of anchor. 

There was a large cable leading to the portal that laid upon the floor. Dipper made that his target. With another few steps, he found himself walking easily toward it. 

“Just a little closer to the left,” Dipper muttered to himself. He tried to vere his direction toward it, only to find himself being dragged to the center of the room. In horror, Dipper realized his front legs were being pulled off the floor and into the portal. 

“On no,” Dipper cried. “Oh no, no, no, no,” He grabbed desperately as he was pulled forward. The red button passed him and he quickly grasped it with his right hand. His fingers curled around the metal rod and he pulled himself toward the cold metal. THe portal continued to pull at him, but Dipper had wrapped himself tightly around the pole. 

“Dipper!” Stanley cried. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah!” Dipper yelled back. “I’m- I’m okay!”

“Hang on, I’m coming to get ya kid.” Stanley announced. The man tried to pull himself down, but again found the weight of the portal too much bare. 

“No, it’s okay!” Dipper yelled. “I’m going to-” HIs words were cut short with a loud pop. The button Dipper was clinging to jutted out the floor and shot backward toward the portal. Dipper screamed, his knuckles turning white as his death grip increased around the pole. 

“Dipper!” Mabel and Stanley cried out. They watched in horror as Dipper was pulled toward the portal. He stopped suddenly, causing his four legs to swing violently towards the portal. 

Dipper looked down in surprise at the base of the pole. A precious few wires held it in place. 

“Oh, geese,” Dipper muttered. “Oh geese.” He kicked out in a panic. 

There was a bright flash from the portal. Everything went bright, and for a moment, the world went white. It was impossible to see. In the midst of this, there was a loud clamer. There was a sound, much like the splash of water, and a heavy clammer that followed it. Stanley felt his blood run cold. He recognized the sound. 

“The portal…” Stanley murmured. “Something went through!”  

There was a final, thunderous boom that echoed throughout the chamber. The white began to fade from the room, and the ring around the portal became visible. The symbols on it began to slow in their rotation, until the last one blinked sadly and diminished. The portal flickered, and after a few quiet seconds, the blue swirl inside it shimmered out. The force it had died with it.  

Dipper fell hard to the floor, and the button he had so desperately clung too clanked loudly beside him. Stanley fell from the ceiling, and managed to catch himself on the way down. He flapped his wings and landed beside Mabel, who quickly pulled herself into his arms. 

“Dipper, are you okay?” Stanley shouted across the room as he pulled Mabel close to himself. 

Dipper’s head poked out from above a pile of debris, his ears perked up sharply. He was battered and bruised, but otherwise intact. 

“Yeah!” The deer child called. Stanley sighed a breath of relief and looked down at his great niece. 

“You okay, sweetie?” He asked Mabel.

“Yeah.” Mabel smiled. She looked up at Stan with an inquisitive look in her eyes. “What happen to the portal?” 

There was a knocking behind them, and Stanley and Mabel swung their heads around in sync to look at the source of the sound. There, standing among a pile of shattered glass in the control room was Wendy. Her skin was cut in several places and a large gash ran just above her right eyebrow. In her hand, she held the frayed ends of several cut wires. They looked as if they had been bit through. 

“I got it.” Wendy announced. She swayed slightly, and rested a hand on the control panel to steady herself. Stan reached through the shattered window with the hand that didn’t hold Mabel and offered it to her. She dropped the wire and gladly took it. 

“Are you okay Corduroy?” He asked. Wendy looked upon it and smiled, before the expression quickly fell from her face and was replaced with one of shock. “Wendy, what’s wrong?” Stanley pressed. 

There was a click behind his head and Stanley froze. He turned just enough to catch a large, male figure behind him. The figure held a large gun to Stanley’s head.

“Now, you listen here,” The figure began. “First, you’re going tell me exactly where and when we are. Then, you’re going to tell me exactly whatever it is you are. Understand?” 

Stanley pulled away from Wendy and pulled his arm close to himself. He slowly placed Mabel on the floor and turned to look the figure in the eyes. He leaned in close, and the figure pressed his weapon closer to Stanley’s forehead. 

“Back up.” The figure commanded. Stanley ignored it, and looked closely at the figure’s face. 

“Stanford? Is that you?”


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what babies- this fic is now officially up to date! After this chapter, updates will be synced with Fanfiction.Net story, so the need to catch up there first will no be longer necessary. Thanks for sticking around as I try to figure this website out-  
>  Love you guys!

"Stanford?" 

Stanley's voice was barely a whisper. The stranger remained motionless, holding his weapon just inches from Stanley's head. A large scarf was wrapped around his head and upper torso, hiding his face from view. Nothing but his eyes could be seen, if not vaguely, from behind a pair of tinted goggles. Mabel poked her head out from behind Stanley’s ankle to get a look at him, but held on closely to her uncle's leg.  

“I want answers.” The figure demanded. His voice was deep, and seemed to have a commanding air to it. Still, something about the man seemed familiar too, as if Mabel had met him before. She looked to him them back to Stanley. 

...Could he be the brother Grunkle Stan was talking about? 

Mabel compared the two again. Remove the Gargoyle skin from one and the apocalypse outfit from the other, and their builds were about the same. Almost identical, actually. 

“Well you were always the one with the answers, Sixer.” Stanley tried. He reached for the gun, only to have figure knock his hands away with the side of his weapon. 

“How do you know that name?” The figure demanded. He gazed down at Mabel, and then at Wendy, who stood behind the control panel. Wendy was shaky, but she held eye contact with the man. Her grip on the hand Stanley offered her had increased, and her white knuckles could be seen even from under her fur. The figures eyes broke away from Wendy’s after he met them.

“Who are these creatures?” The figure continued, turning his attention toward Stanley. His arm that was holding the weapon seemed to be shaking slightly as he talked. “Why are they here?”

“It’s okay,” Stanley soothed. “I promise it’s okay.” He took a step toward the man, only to have the man step back. Mabel still held on tightly to Stanley’s leg and slid with him as he moved forward. 

The man glared at Stanley, then to Mabel. The little mermaid held a death grip on the gargoyles leg, crinkling up the creature’s pant leg in her tiny hands. She stared up at the man, her eyes darting around him and his features. They kept falling on the weapon he pointed at the gargoyle. The figure readjusted his grip on the gun. She looked like a kid. He gave a sideways glance at the werewolf standing behind the counter. She wasn’t much older. 

“Who are you?” The man repeated. “Who are these kids?”

“You already know me.” Stanley explained. “It’s me- Stanley! Don’t tell me you don’t remember your own brother.”

“No.” The scarfed figure shook his head, lowering his gun as he did so. “No, you’re not. I don’t know who you are, but you definitely aren’t my brother.”

“But I am.” Stanley pressed. He took a step forward, toward the mystery man. The man didn’t step back this time. “Stanford please, I’ll explain everything. Just- put the gun down.”

The man in the scarf gazed into the face of the man before him for a long moment. 

“Where are you from?” The figure finally asked. 

“Stanford please. We don’t have to play these silly games.” 

The figure pressed a switch somewhere on his gun and it whirled to life, giving off a strange blue light. Grunkle Stan threw up his hands in surrender. 

“Alright! I’m from Glass Shard Beach, New Jersey.” Stanley answered. 

“What was the name of your first girlfriend?” The figure continued. 

“Carla.” Stanley said. “She hooked you up with a friend for prom one year, Remember? ”

The figure grunted. His fingers fiddled on his gun as he lowered it to his side. 

“Stanley?” He asked, leaning in closer to the gargoyle. With his open hand, he reached up to his face and lowered his scarf, so that his face was visible. It was gruff, as if he hadn’t shaved in awhile. But beneath his unkempt exterior, he was practically identical to Stanley. “What happened to you?” 

Stanley laughed in reply. “What hasn’t?” He joked. Stanley reached over to grab his brother, only to have Stanford pull back.

“Uh-uh.” He shook his head. “Not until I know what happened,” Stanford gestured to Stanley’s face, then to his wings. “Here.”

Stanley grabbed him anyway,  scoping the man into his arms and pulling him into a bear hug. Stanford let out a grunt a protest. 

“Stanley! Put me down!” He shouted, pushing against his brothers embrace.

Stanley muttered something into Stanford’s chest that was hard to make out. He then lifted his head a little so that his face wasn’t buried in his brother’s torso. 

“I thought I would never see you again, Ford.” Stanley sniffed.  

“I missed you too,” Ford tried, a little less enthusiastically. He continued to push away from Stanley, but couldn’t break away from his brother’s grip. 

“So... are you my uncle?” Mabel asked. Ford stared down at her in surprise. He had forgotten she was still glued to his brother’s leg.  

“Uncle?” Ford echoed. He turned toward Stanley. “You had a kid?” He questioned. 

“Oh, god no.” Stanley laughed. “These are Shermy’s grandkids.” 

“Shermy? That little queball had kids?” Ford replied. “That’s crazy!” 

“Yeah, that surprised Ma just about as much.” Stanley continued, lifting his leg so that Mabel was lifted off of the ground. “This one here’s Mabel.”

“Hello there.” Ford introduced. He held out his hand and Mabel shook it eagerly. 

“You have six fingers.” She said aloud. Mabel grabbed his pinky and wiggled it back and forth. “That’s so freaky.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Ford laughed uneasily. 

“And Dipper is around here somewhere too.” Stanley continued. As if on cue, Dipper poked his head out from behind a pile of rubble. Ford looked at the cervitaur and then to Mabel. 

“They’re twins?” he exclaimed. He scoped Mabel up in his arms and squinted at her face. “How’s that possible?”

Dipper skipped over the rubble and stumbled to a stop between Stanley and Ford. 

“Don’t they say twins skip generations, Sixer?” 

“You know that’s not what I mean Stanley!” Ford exclaimed. “How they hell are these two twins if neither of them are even in the same subspecies?!”

“Well I didn’t always have a tail.” Mabel giggled. She swung her pink tail back and forth to emphasize her point. 

"What do you mean you didn't always-" Stanford paused mid sentence. He let Mabel fall into the crook of his elbow and tucked her into his side, so that she hung at his hip. With his other hand her reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

"Does this have anything to do with that stupid creek?" He asked. 

"You mean Fluvius Cantus?" Dipper asked.Ford let out a groan. 

"Oh my God. Yes, I mean the Fluvius Cantus!" Ford pulled away from his brother and left a hand forced into Stanley’s chest. Ford opened his mouth as if to yell at his brother, only to pause. "How do you know what the Fluvius Cantus is?" Ford quizzed, turning his attention to Dipper. Dipper's ears perked and a grin quickly overtook his face. 

"I've been reading your journal!

“My journal? Which one?”

“Number three!” Dipper beamed. “I’ve been studying your work all summer. It’s your work right?”

“Well yes, mostly.” Ford trailed off. 

“Yeah! So I’ve been reading your notes about the town, and following up on some of your research. It’s really all amazing! I even added some notes of my own discoveries! Well, me and Mabel’s work anyway. Oh, well I hope you don’t mind. I even been able to fill in some of the black areas in your notes.”

“You’ve been conducting your own study?” Ford said. “Your barely look out of elementary school.”

“Elementary school!” Mabel exclaimed. “We’re almost thirteen!”

“Are you? You’ll have to excuse me, I haven’t been around other people for some time. Can I see you kid’s work?”

“Yeah!” Dipper nearly exclaimed. He reached for his vest, only to remember he was still in his pajamas. “Um,” Dipper muttered, turning his about the room. 

“Over here Dipper.” Wendy called. She plucked the journal from the control desk, and dumped the shards of glass off of it. Dipper jumped over to her and grabbed it from her hands. Ford turned to the red head and raised his eyebrows.

“Are you related to me too?”

“Oh god no.” Wendy shook her head. “I don’t have anything to do with,” She gestured to the family reunion before her. “This situation. I’m just one of Mr. Pines’s employees. You can call me Wendy.”

“Well then it’s nice to meet you Wendy.” Ford greeted. Wendy’s gaze met Ford’s eyes and then dropped to the gun strapped at his side.

“Uh huh.” She grunted. 

Dipper scampered back over the Ford and cracked open the journal. 

“This is the work I’ve been doing with your research.” Dipper beamed.He handed the book to Ford and began pointing to a page full of notes. Ford grinned at the kid’s messy handwriting. Then he examined it closer. No, that was definitely Stanley’s hand writing. It was a series of phrases, all about some guy named gideon. One or two of them had been circled, but the rest of them had been crossed out or surrounded by question marks. They were all insults. Ford turned his attention to the other side of the page, where the handwriting was relatively nicer. 

“Wow,” Ford muttered. He glanced over the notes, and smiled at the silly illustrations that accompanied them. If he had to guess, it appeared like the detailed notes were from the boy, and the mermaid drew the pictures. Unless Dipper was more into glitter pens than he seemed.  Ford took his eyes off of the page and looked down to the mermaid in his arms. There were spots of paint all over her arms, and a healthy coat of something glittery in her hair. Her shook her slightly and some of the sparkly substance twinkled to the ground. He shook the journal and a similar substance came tumbling out. No, it was most likely the girl. 

“What do you think?” Dipper asked. The kid was nearly trebling from excitement. 

“These notes are really good.” Ford announced. He flipped the page and quickly skimmed it. “I mean look at this! You two managed to encounter the gnomes? That’s incredible!”

“We’ve seen a lot more than just the gnomes,” Mabel replied. She put out her hand and began counting on her fingers. “We’ve bumped into manotaurs, a witch, demons, ghosts-”

“Don’t forget the cult.” Wendy cut in. “Or the shapeshifter.”

“You guys met shifty?” Ford nearly jumped on his words. “What were you doing in the bunker?”

“Bunker?” Stanley muttered. “What bunker?”

“I mean, we were going to find it anyway. We’ve been digging up about everything in town.” Wendy explained. She had moved from her spot behind the counter and was now sitting beside a pile of rubble next to Stanley. 

“But there were defense protocols- how did you kids get by them?”

“Through the power of teamwork.” Mabel answered. She held both her her hands out for high fives. 

“Yeah,” Wendy grinned, and she slapped one of Mabel’s hands. Dipper grinned and high-fived the other. 

“It was something like that.” Dipper shrugged. Ford clasped shut the journal and handed it back to Dipper, who took it back eagerly. 

“I’m impressed.” Ford smiled. “I never thought anybody would be able to decipher my journals, let alone a couple of kids.” 

“I guess Dipper is just that good.” Mabel smiled. She reached over and punched Dipper playfully in the arm.

“Y-yeah, I guess.” Dipper grinned back. He pulled the journal close to his chest and smiled up at Ford. 

“Now how did you guys find the Fluvius Cantus?” Ford asked. 

“Uh,” Dipper opened the journal and flipped to a page in the middle. “I found this page in the journal about it.” Dipper explained. “It was stuck together when I found it, but I got it open.” 

“Wait, wait, wait- I glued those pages together for a reason. Are you telling me you went down to the creek even after ungluing the two pages?” Ford pressed. 

“Well, um…” Dipper shuffled uncomfortably. “Yes.”

“Yes!” Ford yelled. “What were you thinking! I even left warnings on the page in case somebody pried those stupid pages a part! Why would you go down there!?”

“I don’t know! Opportunity?” Dipper shrugged. “I figured somebody had too.”

“What? No! Nobody had too! That’s why I did!”

“Why’s it so dangerous?” Dipper asked. Ford grabbed Mabel’s tail and waved it back and forth. 

“Let’s just ask you sister’s legs.” Ford said sarcastically. 

“Okay, listen. That’s weird, but it’s definitely not the most dangerous thing we’ve encountered in the falls.” Dipper pressed on. 

“That’s not the point.” Ford explained. “You should have never been anywhere near it.You don’t know what other creatures could have been down there.”

“Hey, Sixer, knock it off. Don’t scold the kids when you barely even know ‘em.” Stanley cut in. Ford turned toward his brother and pointed at him accusingly. 

“You! Don’t even get me started on you Stanley. Not only did you activate the portal when I specifically told you not to, you let a bunch of kids explore at least two dangerous locations! And! You brought them here. These kids could have died. Or am I wrong Stanley? Were they triplets, and you just lost the other one?”

“Ey! Knock it off Ford! You’ve been gone thirty years and I don’t want to kick off you home coming with another fight.”

“Oh please. Don’t get me started on this, Stanley.”

“You started it!”

Mabel and Dipper made eye contact. 

“These two fight a lot.” Mabel leaned over and whispered into Dipper’s ear.

“Yeah,” Dipper whispered back. “I guess they have some unresolved stuff to work through.”

“I guess. Could you take me back now?” She held out her arms out and gestured for her brother to pick her up. 

“Oh yeah,” Dipper grabbed Mabel’s hands and pulled her loose from Ford’s grasp. She quickly swung loose and sat herself on Dipper’s back. Ford didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he just placed his other hand on his hip and continued to argue with his brother. The two of them made their way over the the wall and sat next to Wendy. 

“Hey dudes.” Wendy greeted. “Are you both alright?”

“Yeah,” Mabel answered. “I guess we’re both alright. How’s your head?”

“I’ll live. It’s just a bump.” Wendy conceded. 

“Are you bleeding?” Dipper asked. 

“I don’t think so.” Wendy touched the back of her head and examined her fingers. They were clean. “Why you asking that?”

Dipper darted his gaze back and forth, and then leaned in close to Mabel and Wendy. 

“Now, I don’t want either of the Stans to hear, but I think that chupacabra is still in here.”

“Dang it!” Wendy hissed. “I forgot about the stupid leather bag.” 

“Oh no… Do you think Gompers is OK?” Mabel asked. 

“Bleh-heh-heh.” 

As if on cue, Gompers poked his head out from behind a pile of rubble. There was an old text book at his feet, with several bites taken out of the cover. The animal picked it up in his teeth and trotted over to the kids. Laying down at their feet, he nuzzled up to Mabel and she rubbed the hair between his ears. 

“You brought an animal down here too!” Ford yelled. The kids turned their attention back up to the argument. Stanley seemed upset. His wings twitched angrily behind him, and his tail swing harshly at his feet. Standing in front of him, Ford was red in the face. His goggles had been torn off and thrown on the ground, while his scarf began to twirl around his back. 

“Why do you care! It already looks like crap down here!” Stanley yelled back. 

“Because it’s my house Stanley! And you brought a mangy mule into it!” 

“It’s a goat!”

“It’s still in my house!”

“Well sorry if you weren’t around to ask for permission!” 

“And whose fault is that?” 

Stanley went silent for a moment. His eyes widened, and the wings on his back unfolded. He placed both of his hands on Ford's chest and pushed him backwards. Ford lost his footing and landed on his rear. 

“What is wrong with you!” Ford yelled. 

“What’s wrong with me?!” Stanley yelled back. “I just risked everything to get you back! Maybe it was a bit sooner than planned, but it was still dangerous! And now you’re screaming at me in front of these kids you have just met because you can’t control your short-fused temper!”

“Yeah, you got me back Stanley, but at what risk?! You endangered these kids, along with who knows who else? Opening this portal could have torn a hole in space itself;It could have torn our world-  _ our universe _ \- apart. And you did it anyway!” Ford pushed himself off the ground. “What the hell were you thinking?” Placing both of his hands on Stanley’s chest, Ford pushed against his brother, making him stumble backwards.

Stanley let out a grunt of surprise as he tumbled backwards. His wings shot out at his sides and Stanley reached out blindly as he struggled to steady himself. Stanley’s claws latched onto his brother’s forearm, and Ford came crashing to the ground behind him. They both tumbled to the ground in a spray of basement dust and rubble. 

“Are you guys okay?” Mabel asked. 

Ford emerged from the dust first. He jumped up, his face red. His arm was pressed close into his side.

“You clawed me!” He accused. Ford’s tone was more surprised than accusing. 

“You pushed.” Stanley muttered. He was sitting in the middle of the dust cloud, sprawled out on top of a pile of rubble. 

“You scratched me.” Ford repeated, under his breath. 

Ford pulled his arm away from his side and examined it. Even from the kid’s angle, they could tell it only a flesh wound, but a thin line of blood, like a papercut, raced sideway across the innermost portion of his arm. 

“Ford, you need to cover up your arm.” Wendy announced. 

Ford jumped, as if he forgot the kids were there. The red from his face began to drain.

“No, no, it’s okay. Just a little cut, see?” Ford displayed his arm to the kids. 

“No, you should cover that up. Like now.” Wendy continued to press. 

“Please. Wanda, I promise you I have taken worse cuts then this.”

“No you don’t understand-” Wendy paused halfway through her statement. “What? My name isn’t- you know what? Whatever! Cover up your arm!”

“What? No, I’m fine.”

“No, I think you should.” Dipper piped in. 

In Mabel’s arms, Gompers stiffened. The goat’s head lifted and pointed toward Ford. 

“Gompers?” Mabel asked. She ruffled the creature’s fur to get his attention, only to have him ignore her. Gompers’ eyes were locked on the space behind Ford. 

Ford seemed to notice Gompers’ gaze and turned his back to the kids. He looked at the space behind him. The portal laid in near ruins behind him, surrounded by rubble and other debris. 

“Is there something in here that you guys aren’t telling me about?” Ford asked. 

“Oh.” Grunkle Stan pulled his eyes up from his place on the ground and made eye contact with the kids. “I totally forgot.”

“About what?” Ford demanded. 

There was a flash of blue as the words left Ford’s mouth. Ford jumped back in surprise, raising his arms to protect his face. A learthey blue creature landed at Ford's feet, skidding forward on the metal floor. 

“The chewbacca!” Stanley exclaimed. He kicked at the chupacabra, launching it several feet away from the two brothers. Gompers jumped out of Mabel’s arms and bleated in a panic. 

“A chupacabra?” Ford exclaimed. He pressed his cut arm in his jacket so the that his cut was buried in the fabric of his jacket. “Why didn’t you say anything?” 

“Well excuse me-” Stanley began. 

“No, shut up.” Wendy cut him off. She leapt over the rubble that she had been leaning against and slid in between Stanley and Ford. “You’re both adults. Act like it.” She growled. Both Stanley and Ford fell silent.   
“Jeez kid,” Stanley muttered. Wendy rolled her eyes roll her eyes before dropping to all fours. She turned her attention to where Stanley had punted the lizard.

“Wait,” She muttered. The werewolf turned her head around in confusion. “Where’d it go?”

“It must have turned invisible.” Ford announced. 

“That stupid lizard can do that?!” 

Wendy sniffed at the air and growled. 

“I got him.” She grumbled out. Pouncing at a pile of rubble, Wendy let her claws dig into the ground. Something hissed as she hit the ground, and Wendy reeled back as something audibly whizzed through the air. 

“Ah!” She yelped in surprise. Wendy raised a paw to her check and gasped. “He scratched me!” She hissed. 

“Hold still.” Ford announced. He plucked his gun from his side and pointed it to a stack of rubble beside Wendy. “I got this.” He pulled the trigger, sending up a small spray of rubble beside Wendy.

The chupacabra shrieked as the gunshot echoed through the room. It was still invisible, but a layer of dust had settled on its’ back, providing a small outline of the top of it’s head to it’s tail. Wendy quickly swatted at the silhouette, only to have the creature quickly zip out of her grasp. 

Stanley leapt after it, using his wings to clear the space above Wendy and the pile of rubble. He landed in front of the moving line of dust. The chupacabra slid to a stop in front of the gargoyle, narrowly avoiding his stone claws as he slammed them into the floor. Digging her claws into a notch in the rubble, the chupacabra used her front legs to launch herself forward, toward the younger two of the creatures. 

“Bleh-heh-heh!” Gompers bleated in a panic. 

“Gompers wait!” Mabel cried. She attempted to wrap her arms around the goat, only to have the him bolt for the staircase. 

The chupacabra slid into the pile of rubble Mabel and Dipper were hiding behind. 

“Ah!” Dipper exclaimed. He raised one of his hooves and kicked the creature in the side. The reptile gasped, and a big crunch resounded from its’ ribs as it was forced to the metal wall. Dipper reached to grab Mabel, only to watch a blue figure materialize in front of him. The Chupacabra raised itself to its full height, only to let itself hunch over. Dipper yelped in surprise as the reptile jumped forward, knocking Dipper to the ground. Dipper tried to push himself up, only to find that the chupacabra had him pinned to the ground. 

The creature raised its’ head and opened its’ mouth, revealing long, yellowed teeth. Dipper continued to push against it, only to yelp as the creature’s claws dug into his skin.

“Get off of him!” Mabel yelled. 

The creature turned its head in time to see a text book come slamming into its face. The lizard lurched forward, its head wobbling around on its shoulders, before the stunned creature fell into Dipper’s chest. 

“Get off!” Dipper yelped as the limp form fell onto his chest. He quickly brushed it off and hurried to his sister’s side. 

Grunkle Stan leapt toward the creature, pinning it in his claws as he landed above it. 

“Dipper, you alright?” He asked. Dipper raised a hand the claw marks in his shoulders. 

“Yup.” Dipper muttered. “Yup yup yup.” The cervitaur seemed abnormally pale, but otherwise intact, so Stanly let the subject drop. 

Stanley looked down at the reptile in his grasp. The creature was breathing, but it was most definitely not conscious. Stanley whistled. Mabel had gotten it good. He pulled his claws away from the limp reptile and quickly scanned it over. By the looks of things, Mabel wasn’t the only one. There was a visible indent on its side where Dipper had kicked the thing against the wall. 

“You two really did a number on this bag of bones.” Stanley congratulated. 

“NIce.” Mabel muttered. Stanley gazed from her to Dipper. They both looked exhausted. Stanley glanced down at his watch and grimaced.  _ 3:30 A.M. _

“Are you kids feeling alright?” Stanley asked while Clearing his throat. 

“Um, yeah actually, I’m kind of parched.” Mabel answered. 

“Oh shoot.” Stanley muttered. He mentally cursed himself. Of course of forget that too. He was really proving his brother wrong about the irresponsibility thing, huh? Stanley felt a wave of emotions hit him as he thought of his brother, but he shoved them back down. This wasn’t the time. “I forgot about that sweetie. Let’s get you to the pool.”

“That actually is not going to work.” Wendy announced. Stanley looked over to where the teenage werewolf was standing. She held the kitty pool in her hand. Or rather, she held the twisted plastic remains of the kitty pool. The purple plastic was torn in several places, but the largest hole was that in the middle. It was easily 2 feet across, and erupted at the edges like a volcano. 

“Aw man…” Mabel muttered. 

“That’s alright.” Stanley conceded. “That’s fine we’ll just head upstairs. It’s late anyway.”

“We’re going to bed?” Dipper asked. 

“Yeah, it’s been a long night.” Stanley answered. “Just don’t get all disappointed on me, alright kid?”  

Stanley dropped to his knees to scoop up Mabel, momentarily turning his back on Dipper.

“Stanley, your kid!” He heard his brother call. Stanley craned his neck to the side in time to see Ford quickly catching Dipper’s form as the cervitaur began to lurch to the side. 

“Is he okay?” Stanley asked. He swung Mabel into the crook of his elbow and reached for Dipper. 

“Dipper?” Mabel whispered. 

“He’s okay.” Ford whispered. He touched Dipper’s neck a felt for a pulse. “I think... he’s just asleep.” He muttered in confusion. 

“Oh.” Wendy announced. She dropped the pool and had placed  the Chupacabra over her shoulder. “I guess he still is concussed and everything.”

Ford picked up the cervitaur and held him against his chest like a toddler would a teddy bear. 

“What have you been doing to these kids.”

“Believe me, they have done most of this themselves.” Stanley replied. 

 

\-----------------------------------

 

Stanley reached the base of the stairs and sulked over to the couch. 

“You seem exhausted.” Ford commented. 

“Ha!” Stanley laughed. “You don’t even know the half of it.”

“I hear that.” Ford sighed. The two sat in silence for a few moments. The sound of crickets could be heard through the open window, and the light from the bathroom and the glow from Stanley’s eyes were the only light in the room. 

“You know, it’s been hard without you.”  Stanley said. 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah. And you know what? It’s almost been easier the past month and a half. Mabel and Dipper have been here, and you know, they help. But you know what else, Sixer?

“Hmm?”

“That’s almost made it worse.” Stanley didn’t say anything after that. He leaned his back against the back of the couch and pointing his gaze toward the the ceiling. 

Ford turned his eyes toward his brother. Stanley’s eyes were pointed away from him. Instead, they were fixed on some undetermined point on the ceiling. Ford turned away from his deformed brother and looked toward the picture he had swiped off the nightstand. It was of his brother and the twins upstairs. They were at the beach in the photograph. He had lied when he came out of the portal. Sure, he didn’t realise where he was when he came out, but when he laid eyes on Stanley… He knew.  Behind those glowing eyes and the splotchy skin, his brother Stanley was most definitely there. Ford felt it in the pit of his stomach.  

“...We used to get along like they do.” Stanley finally continued. 

Ford tore his attention away from the glasses he held in his hands. “We used to be a lot of things Stanley.” Ford answered. 

Stanley was quiet for a moment. Then he lowered his gaze and shook his head. Stanley pushed himself off the couch and made his way toward the hall. 

“Stanley?” Ford asked as his brother disappeared down the hall. He pushed himself off the couch and followed his brother down the hall. Using the walls to guide him, he followed the hall all the way to a room at the end of the hall. Ford felt a wave of nostalgia hit him as he stepped into his old office. “Stanley, are you in here?”

Ford almost jumped out of his skin as to yellow eyes blinked to life in the darkness. He placed a hand on his chest as he reminded himself they belonged to Stanley. He felt his brother press something into his hands before speaking. 

“I guess you’re right. I just-” Stanley swallowed and closed his eyes. “I hope you can be close again. Maybe not like we used too… Just better.”

Ford closed his fingers around the object in his hand. He felt the edge of the small object and let a smile cross his face. They were his old glasses. 

Ford didn’t say anything. Instead he smiled, and hoped his brother could see the smile on his face and not the water collecting in his eyes. 

“It’s good to have you back Sixer.” Stanley said.

Ford returned his gaze to his brother. It was strange to look at him, and not just because of the inhuman features that had taken over his body or the strange glow the escaped from his eyes.  Looking at Stanley was like looking into a mirror. Ford repressed a laugh as he noted the resemblance to their shared father in his facial shape. 

“I guess it’s good to be back.” He admitted after a moment of silence. “Have a good night Stanley.”

“G’night Sixer.”

  
  
  



	20. The Author of the Journals: My Grunkle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN/
> 
> Ho boy, were people mad about the wait on this chapter. To be fair, College is hard my dudes. But that's not the point. I'm sorry I made you all wait since July for a NEW chapter. That was kind of super crappy on my part. But I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! It was fun as hell to write. Also, I know not everybody read the author's note, so I'm going to share a secret with you dudes; I plan to post another chapter this month to celebrate the spookiest month of the year (and to make up for lost time). Love you dudes!

 

The woods were quiet. 

Which was wrong. 

Robbie knew from living in Gravity Falls his whole life what the woods were supposed to sound like. There was supposed to be rustling. Bugs were supposed to be chirping. If you went tumbling through the bushes, there was supposed be growling, furry trash bandit growling back at you.

But the stretch of trees behind Robbie’s house were lacking in any sort of rustling, chirping, or trash bandits (furry or otherwise). The mass of trees that surrounded the teenager were void of any noise. Beside his noisy shambling, the forest was dead as he was. 

“Pacifica!” Robbie hissed through his clenched teeth. 

There was no reply. Robbie cursed and pressed deeper into the woods. 

He had been awake when he heard the porch door slam shut.

Robbie hadn’t been able to sleep. Whether it was a side effect of Thompson’s fender and the flood waters, or the day old energy drink he drank before dinner, Robbie had been laying in bed, contemplating the recent turns of his life. It was a lot more depressing than usual. 

The creaking door had cut through the silence like a shattering of a window, making the undead boy literally jump out of thought. Robbie peeked out of his window in time to catch Pacifica’s silhouette disappear off the porch and into the forest. Robbie had thrown on his hoodie over his pajamas, and rushed out the door to catch her. He hadn’t thought of alerting his parents at the time. 

Upon returning home after his adventure with Thompson and the Pines, he had found his parents had turned as well. Well, he was sure they had turned, but he didn’t exactly know into  _ what _ . Not that it mattered, really. It was sure to come up eventually if it was important. 

“This is stupid,” Robbie muttered to himself. By this point, he was already several minutes away from the yard. He looked back toward his house, just managing to catch an outline as the moon hung behind his home.  Robbie scoffed. “Stupid zombie vision. Can’t even seen my house half-way decent in the dark.” He turned his attention back to the path, and continued into the woods. If he were to go back now and get his folks, Pacifica would have a 10 minute head start on them, if not more. It was too late to turn back now. 

_ I wonder if my folks will come look for me if I’m not back by morning.  _ Robbie almost laughed at his own thought. 

_ Please. They probably wouldn’t even notice I was gone.  _ He felt something sad pang in his chest, and Robbie shoved his fist into the pockets of his hoodie.  _ I bet they’ll come looking for Pacifica. _

Mrs. Valentino was ecstatic to find Robbie had volunteered to babysit Pacifica. Sure, babysit was more of a gentle code for “house the homeless, rich, cryptid”, but what else was Robbie supposed to do? The Northwest Manor was overrun with monsters, after all. Technically, the Mystery Shack was an option for her, but it really wasn’t. Robbie knew she wouldn’t have even considered it if the woods and the public pool weren’t her only other options at the time. Pacifica was a girl of high and uncompromising class. Robbie remembered. 

Before his parents had became funeral directors, they both worked out of the house, so Robbie had spent quite a bit of time in day-care. Robbie and Pacifica were placed in the same shuttle group, so the two of them saw a lot of each other. They weren’t close, but they were more than acquainted. 

Stars offered some light as Robbie walked, but he found himself leaning on his night-vision more than the light from above. Being a zombie sucked, but some of the perks were cool, he guessed. 

Robbie looked down to his fingers, which hung loosely from his sleeves. His blueish-grey flesh looked back up toward him. Some of the other perks weren’t as cool. He could still feel his skin, but it felt numb and detached. He rubbed his fingers together once, turning them over in his palm. His right ring finger was only half covered in skin. The other half was uncovered bone. He wiggled the finger once, watching it as it moved as fluidly as any other digit. He was no scientist, but that didn’t seem possible to him. Then again, not much of about anything did lately. 

It wasn't long until he stumbled onto Pacifica’s trail. The underbrush in front of him was awkwardly patted down, almost forming a zigzag pattern through the foliage. 

_ This must be from Pacifica, _ Robbie mused to himself,  _ or something just as big. _ He hoped it was the later. 

As he thought, the trail ahead of him began to narrow. Crouching, Robbie pulled his hood over his head and plunged deeper into the tight path. Twigs pulled at the edges of his hoodie as he wriggled through the undergrowth, and several of them snagged onto the black fabric. Instead of untangling them, he jerked himself loose, tearing down small branches in his wake. 

Abruptly, the trail re-opened. Robbie stumbled forward, bits of wood and leaves flying after him. His ankle bent at an odd angle, and Robbie heard an audible pop. 

“Shit!” Robbie swore. Clamping his eyes shut, Robbie winced as a spurt of pain ran up his lower leg. The pain meant it was still attached, so Robbie didn’t bother to look at it. He would deal with it later. 

He reopened his eyes, and paused. Robbie turned his head, squinting at a spot of yellow that had caught his attention. There was a vague figure just beyond a pair of bushes. Quietly, Robbie limped toward it, pressing into trees for balance. Robbie gasped. 

That was her. 

She was a statue. Robbie wasn’t even sure she was alive at first. It was her hair that showed the slightest that sign she was alive. The snakes that had taken over her hair were all looking toward whatever it was Pacifica was staring down. Little tongues would stick out every few seconds, and it was the only movement coming from the little blonde. 

“Pacifica?” Robbie whispered. The preteen remained frozen.

“Pacifica?” Robbie repeated, louder. 

Just ahead of Pacifica, something erupted from the underbrush. Pacifica lept into action after it, striking almost too fast for Robbie to register. Her talons dug into the ground ahead of the blur, cutting it off from its escape path. Pacifica’s body coiled behind her, and Robbie caught a glimpse of the furry creature caught between her forearms. 

It was a rabbit. 

Pacifica’s body began to coil behind her, and another realization dawned upon Robbie. 

_ Holy shit. She’s totally going to pounce on that thing. _

“Pacifica!” Robbie shouted. He jumped forward, wrapping his arms around the gorgon’s shoulders. At the same moment, Pacifica lept forward.

“ _ Hurk! _ ” Pacifica gasped. Robbie’s arms locked around her middle, but Pacifica still launched forward. 

“Shit!” Robbie yelled as pacifica pulled him off his feet. Pacifica lurched forward several feet, but Robbie’s weight quickly pulled her to the ground. 

The rabbit squealed, then bolted into the underbrush. 

Robbie quickly rolled off of Pacifica’s back.

“What the hell were you doing?” Robbie exclaimed.  

Pacifica turned her head toward Robbie, and he immediately knew something was wrong. 

“Pacifica?” Robbie whispered. Pacifica reeled back, and brought herself to her full, preteen height. She continued to rise, using her added snake-like underbelly to add another few feet to her silhouette.

Robbie had a solid second to take in her whole height, which was now roughly equal to his. 

“Holy shit.”

“ _ Hisss!”  _

Pacifica leapt forward at Robbie, with a surprising amount of speed. 

“Gah!” 

The girl landed on Robbie’s chest, knocking him to the ground. Her talons dug into his shoulders, and Robbie gasped in surprise. 

“Get off!” Robbie yelled. Kicking up with both feet, Robbie pressed his legs into her underbelly, and forced up as hard as he could. His bad ankle popped again, and a flood of pain rushed up his right leg. He swallowed and forced it down as hard as he could. With another push, he managed to roll over, pinning Pacifica beneath him. 

Pacifica let out a gasp of surprise, and for a moment, her grip on Robbie’s shoulders loosened. Robbie quickly grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the ground beside her head. Her shock quickly wore off. Her lower back arched, and Robbie suddenly felt a weight curling around his abdomen. The force tugged at his middle, but it wasn’t enough to pull him off balance. He dared to look back, and watched as the Gorgon’s tail curled around him. But it wasn’t strong enough to pull him off of her body. 

He turned his attention back to Pacifica. She wasn’t looking at him. Her head was arched back, strained as she tried to pull her hands free from Robbie’s grasp. Robbie watched her for a minute, allowing himself a moment to catch his breath. 

“What the hell, Pacifica?!” He finally pressed. Pacifica’s head snapped toward his, and she growled. Several pieces of her hair hissed too, and one snapped at his earlobe. Robbie pulled his head back. She was pissed. 

“Pacifica!”” Robbie repeated. Pacifica hissed again, then returned to writhing under his grasp. Despite her thrashing, Robbie was able to keep her pinned. He was actually kind of surprised. Sure he talked big game, but in reality, he knew what his limits were. And they were pretty low. He supposed Pacifica’s were lower. 

_ Or,  _ Robbie realised,  _ Maybe this is one of the zombie perks _ . Despite his situation, he cracked a grin.   _ Hell yes _ . 

Beneath him, Pacifica suddenly went stiff. Robbie looked back down at the Northwest. Her expression was frozen, as if she had been mid-hiss. 

“Pacifica?” Robbie asked. Her eyes were glazed over, but she turned to face him nonetheless. She didn’t say anything. Instead, she continued to stare at him with her blank expression. 

Then her head fell back. Robbie suddenly felt a rush a panic. He released his grip on Pacifica’s wrists and jumped off of her. 

Another rush of pain ran up his bad leg. Robbie buckled under the weight. He ignored the dull pain, returning his attention to where Pacifica lay. It occurred to him she may have been faking unconsciousness to coax him off of her torso, but she still hadn’t moved. Robbie shook her shoulder. 

“Pacifica?” He whispered. “Are you okay?” 

She didn’t answer. Robbie shook her again, but her head rolled around like a limp ragdoll’s.

“Oh man.” Robbie brought his hands up to his head. “Oh man. Oh man, oh man, oh man. What’s I do?” 

His head began to swivel around, as if he expected to find help in the woods. But maybe he get lucky. Maybe...

Robbie suddenly swiveled his head back around, squinting at a nearby bush. He had just glanced over it. But there was nothing there. But there  _ was  _ something there, just a moment ago. Robbie was sure of it.

He continued to stare the plant. Nothing happened. But Robbie was positive. Just a minute ago,  _ seconds ago, _ out of the corner of his vision, he knew what he saw. He didn't quite know what it was, but it was there. 

There was a single, yellow eye watching them from the bushes.

 

* * *

 

It was late morning when Ford rolled out of bed. Or rather, out of the couch that had been placed in his old bedroom. Stanley had said it had been converted to sort of employee lounge, but it was still incredibly bizarre for Ford to see his old room so…  _ different _ . It also smelt inexplicably like wax, yet there were no candles in the room. Ford would asked Stanley about it later. 

Ford sat up, murmuring to himself as he coaxed his limbs out of slumber. 

The events from the previous evening were still fresh in his mind. And they were a  _ mess.  _ Being back home after all these years… Ford had essentially given up hope on the matter years ago. It was so good to be back. And the fact that somebody was still around, trying to get him back home, was  _ incredible _ . 

It still boggled Ford that Stanley had been able to rebuild the portal. The goofball was even able to calibrate it to find him. Or he was just unbelievably lucky. Both seemed equally impossible, given Stanley’s track record. But it didn’t change the fact Stanley shouldn’t have done it. Ford was still fuming about that fact. His brother could have ripped a hole through the universe, or torn the world in half, or  _ worse _ . But he did it anyway. Or at least, he had been planning too. If it wasn’t for the kids…

Ford let his thought trail to an end. 

The kids. 

_ Shermy’s  _ grandkids. 

Stanford’s baby brother had kids. He had grandkids. It seemed insane, that little Shermy was capable of having his own life, let alone providing for other little ones. Ford knew it had been 30 years, but he simply couldn’t wrap his mind around it. And Shermy allowed them stay with Stanley. 

Ford felt a rush of different emotions flood into his head. 

_ Stanley. _

“Steady. Steady. Okay, careful. Careful!”

Stanford’s thoughts were interrupted as he heard something slam into his door. His head snapped toward his doorway, which had been shut when he had retreated to his quarters the previous night. It remained shut. 

“Mabel, are you alright?!” Called a voice from above. Stanford recognized it as the boy of the twin duo. 

“Oh, yeah, I’m okay!” The boy’s sister yelled in reply. Stanford realized she was right outside his doorway.

Ford pushed himself off the couch and made his way toward the door. He twisted the doorknob, but paused. There was another force pressing into the door from the other side. Ford sidestepped away from the doorway, allowing the other force to bring it open. 

“Gah!”

The wooden door swung open, and collided with the wall. Ford watched as a little mermaid fell backwards with it, landing with her back against the floor. 

_ The girl must have been leaning against the door _ , Stanford mused. She looked up at him with her youthful eyes and smiled. 

“Grunkle Ford! I didn’t know anybody was in here!” The girl grinned. Ford stared at her for a moment, before cracking a half-smile in reply.

“Why hello.” Ford greeted. He paused for a minute, feeling a small wave a anxiety wash over him. 

_ What was her name again? _ He racked his brain, wishing for any sort of clue to what his own great niece’s name was.  _ You should remember this. This is important! It was like a tree or something. Cherry? ...No, that’s not it. Maple? Mabel!   _

Mabel was sat on the cabin floor, surrounded by a puddle of water that was beginning to inch past the door frame. There was a wagon beside her, tipped to its side. A pig trotted toward her, plopping its rear next to her side. It was tied by its’ stomach to the wagon. Stanford looked his fish-niece over, and quickly scanned the scene around her. Ford took a small step back once he noticed the puddle.

“Well, this was my room.” Ford finally answered. He was surprised at how casual the girl seemed. 

“Oh, right! Grunkle Stan said this used to be your house.” 

Ford rose an eyebrow. 

“Used to be?”

“That was before the portal. You weren’t back yet. It made sense at the time.” Mabel waved him off. 

“Huh.” Ford grunted in reply. “I don’t suppose you know what he plans to do with it now, do ya?” 

Mabel shrugged.

“That seems like something you two should work out. Besides, you two are brothers! You’ll work something out.” 

“I’m sure we will.” Ford felt it in his gut he may be lying, but there was no need to worry a child a but such things. He decided to change the subject. “I’m sure you’ve already worked things out with Stanly about that barnyard animal, right?”

“Oh yeah!” Mabel grinned. “Stanley knows all about Waddles!” She grabbed the pig by the neck and pulled the animal close to herself. Ford made a face. 

“You named the pig?” 

“Of course! Waddles is my baby!” As if in reply, the pig oinked and nuzzled Mabel’s neck. “Do you want to pet him?” 

Ford lowered his gaze to the puddle of water that now surrounded the pair. 

“I’m good.” He dismissed.

“Mabel!” 

Stanford looked toward the hallway. The girl’s brother was sprinting down the hall, still pulling on a vest as he ran. He was still sporting a bad case of bedhead, which could be seen from beneath his hat. 

Ford blinked when he saw the symbol on his head-gear. Why did he recognize it…?

Dipper leapt over the puddle, landing almost perfectly on the other side. 

“Are you okay!” Dipper asked, trotting to a stop beside his sister. Mabel grinned and laughed.

“Yeah, I’m fine dip-dop.” She beamed. 

“What happened?”

Ford watched as Mabel pointed toward the pig, who was still tied to the overturned wagon with a piece of rope. Upon further inspection, Ford realised she must have been using the animal to pull herself around. The rope was clearly too long. 

“We lost control going down the stairs.” Mabel explained. 

Dipper pinched his chin and tucked his head in.

“Hmm...I thought for sure that was going to work. Maybe we should try a mini-horse harness next time.” Dipper looked at the wagon, and then to Ford. Dipper jumped, as if he hadn’t seen him when he walked in. 

“H-hey.” Dipper waved. “How’s it going?”

“Good.” Ford answered. 

Dipper and Ford stared at each other for a moment in silence. 

“How are you?” Ford continued. 

“Good.” 

Mabel rolled her eyes and leaned into Dipper. 

“I didn’t know awkwardness was hereditary.” She whispered. Mabel wasn’t tall enough to elbow, so Dipper nudged her equally as hard with his front knee. She laughed. 

Ford couldn’t help but crack a smile. The two got along like a house on fire. A wave of nostalgia washed over him, and Ford suddenly found himself longing for the long beaches of New Jersey. 

“Where are you two from?” Ford asked. He cringed internally at how abrupt the phrase sounded.

“We’re from Piedmont.” Dipper answered. 

“And that’s in…?”

“California.” 

“Oh.” Ford said. “That’s not at all where I thought it was. That’s on the east coast?”

“West.” Dipper corrected. 

“Really? I apologize- I’ve been away for a long time. Your Grandpa Shermy certainly flew a long ways from the nest.”

“That’s what great-grandma Pines says. Except she usually adds a few choice words.”

Stanford had to catch himself from choking on his breath. 

“Ma’s still kicking?”

“Yeah! Great-G Ma Pines is great!” Mabel grinned. 

“She’s kind of mean to… well, everybody, really.” Dipper added. 

A grin overtook Stanford’s face, and he nodded slightly. 

“Yeah, that seems about right.”  Ford nodded. “How long have you too been staying in town?”

“Since the beginning of summer.” Dipper answered. “And it’s been eventful.”

“Well I can see that.” Ford chuckled.

“Oh yeah.” Mabel continued. “I’m going to have to make volumes for this summer’s scrapbook. The last week alone are going to be jam-packed.”

“The last week? Is that how long you two have been like that?” Ford exclaimed. 

“A little bit less, actually.” Dipper said. 

“So this is recent.” Stanford quizzed. His posture suddenly straightened further, his attention piqued. 

“It’s only been a couple of days, at the latest.” Mabel said. 

“So you know where the Fluvius Cantous is.” 

“Well, yeah…” Dipper trailed off. “Don’t you?”

“I did.” Ford said. The man’s fingers had stated to twitch as he spoke. “But that’s the mystery of the creek. I never completed my research on it because it disappeared.”

“What?!” Dipper and Mabel exclaimed in unison. 

“But it’s right where you’d said it would be!” Dipper said. 

“It was!” Ford placed a hand a his face and stroked his gruffy chin. “That’s unexpected. I thought for sure the location would have changed.”

“You thought it moved!” Dipper exclaimed. “Why didn’t you put that in your journal!”

Stanford jumped. He blinked, as if he had forgotten the kids were there. 

“I couldn’t be sure.” The older man said. “After my initial discovery of the creek, I was only able to return a handful of times. It was gone after a week or so. But by that point, I had already jotted down some observations in my field journal. I decided to cover it up. It was incomplete, after all.”

Mabel felt Dipper’s muscles grow tense beneath her. 

“It disappeared after a week?” Dipper squeaked.

“Yes.” 

“Do you think the effects are permanent after the creek disappears?” Dipper continued. 

“Well…” Ford trailed off. This kid certainly didn’t skirt around tough questions. “We can’t really know. I never completed my research. The Fluvius Cantus might not even disappear. It could just move.” 

Dipper quickly turned to face his sister.

“How many days have we been like this?” Dipper asked. 

“Um, I don’t know.” Mabel scrunched her eyebrows together as she thought. “Three? Four days? They all kind of blur together.” 

“How long did you know about the creek?” Stanford asked.

“We found it the same time we got transformed.” Mabel replied. 

“Then it should still be there.” Ford said. 

“Well, sort of.” Dipper continued. “The entire town is like this. It would be harder to find a place without infected water.”

“The whole town!” Ford exclaimed. Dipper and Mabel made quick eye contact. Stanford almost looked  _ excited _ about the news. 

“I’m sorry if this is rude, but I got to know. How long did it take for the transformations to set in?”

“I’m… not really sure.” Dipper admitted. “After the flash flood, it’s all kind of a blurr. We both blacked out.”

“Flash flood? That tiny creek flooded over?”

“The rains were bad a couple of days ago. The entire town was soaked.”

Ford shook his head. 

“That can’t be right. The creek shouldn’t have been able to flood over. Rains or not, it’s not a likely place for run off to collect, and there’s not dam or reservoir anywhere near the thing.”

“Well the creek certainly didn’t know that.” Mabel shrugged. 

“Hmm…” Ford trailed off. “Dipper, you said you were both turned in a flash flood, correct?”

“Uh-huh.” 

“Mabel, you’re aquatic. But you said you don’t know how long it took you to change. How is that, if you need water to breathe for extended periods?” The man’s eyes widened. “Were you two actually _ dragged _ by the flood waters?! Does that mean-” Ford cut himself off. A moment too late, he realised. Both Dipper and Mabel stiffened. He had stumbled into some uncomfortable territory. . 

_ Shit! _ Ford scolded himself. These kids had clearly been through some trauma, and he had just brought =it up in casual conversation. What an idiot! 

“H-Hey, I’m sorry.” Ford said after a moment. 

“It’s fine.” Dipper shrugged, a little too quickly. “You’re still figuring things out, and you didn’t know. It’s fine.”

The room fell silent for a moment, and the breath of awkwardness began to nip at the air in the room. Ford decided now was a good time to change the subject. 

“The creek shouldn’t have been able to flood over like that unless that was a major change in geography. Do you two know of anything that could have changed the path of the creek?” 

The pair of twins were silent for a moment. Suddenly, Mabel snapped her fingers. 

“The zombies!”

Dipper gasped as soon as the words left Mabel’s mouth. 

“That would account for a change in the path of the water!” Dipper exclaimed. 

“Whoa, hold on. The earth opening and pulling apart would only occur if someone were to summon the undead.” Ford corrected the pair. Dipper and Mabel looked back at Ford with guilty expressions. 

“Did you two summon the undead!?” Ford shouted.

“No!” Mabel shouted back. “Dipper did!”

“There was a reason!” Dipper said. “I needed to prove those agents I wasn’t crazy.”

“Agents! The government’s involved!?”

“Oh, you missed out on all of that…” Mabel whispered. 

“All of what?” Ford demanded. 

Mabel and Dipper exchanged quick glances. 

“Um… I’m sure Grunkle Stan can tell you.” Mabel quickly dismissed the question. 

“Or you can asked the one in the basement.” Dipper quietly added. 

Ford stumbled back, as if a strong wind had pulled his body backwards. 

“You kidnapped a government operative?” Stanford whispered. 

“Technically, he tried to kidnap Dipper first.”

“What?”

“It’s… a long story.” Dipper answered. “Besides! Wendy bit him. We don’t know what he could have done if he went crazy like some of the others.”

“Like the others? Are you saying people have been going crazy from the transformations?” Ford held up a hand, cutting himself off. ”You know what? That’s not the focus here. Was that Winona girl able to transform somebody?”

“Wendy.” Dipper corrected. 

“Well yeah.” Mabel answered. 

“That’s not right… that shouldn’t even be possible. She’s not a true werewolf.” Ford whispered. “Where is he?”

“The agent? He’s in the basement.”

Wordlessly, Ford strode out of the room. He was still in his clothes from the portal, as if he had slept in them. Even the boots. His trench coat flapped behind his like a cape, and with that, he was gone. 

Dipper and Mabel watched as he disappeared down the hall.

Dipper wrapped his arms around Mabel and hefted her onto his back.

“Did… he want us to wait here or....” Dipper mumbled. Mable opened her mouth to reply, only to pause as a set of footsteps began to make there way down the hall. Ford reappeared in the doorway a moment later. 

“I’m afraid I wasn’t clear.” Stanford stated. “I don’t know exactly where in the basement this fellow is. Please come with me.” 

  
  
  



	21. Trigger's a potty mouth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN/ Hey guys! Sorry so much for the wait. I hope you all didn't lose faith in me updating! I'm hoping to have a better schedule this year, and hopefully I'll be able to stick with it. Also, I'm very sorry about saying I would post in a bunch in October for Halloween, because it clearly never actually happened. Sorry. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Ford lead the way down the staircase, his newly discovered nephew trotting closely behind him. Mabel sat on her brother’s back, one hand set on Dipper’s vest, the other hanging at her side so that she could pet her pig as Waddles tailed the group.

Orange sunbeams traced their backs as Stanford and the twins stomped down the staircase, illuminating their shared path in a warm and inviting pool. It had been a long time since Stanford had been home, but the layout came flooding back to him with every moment he spent in the wooden jigsaw pile. A faint scent of pine and sap lingered in the air, as if a fresh coat of rain had been wrapped around the cabin. Ford took a moment to smile. He thought the familiarities of home would take time to readjust too, but here he was, letting the midsummer sights and smells envelope him like he was some sort of tourist. It was nice.

As the reached to bottom of the staircase, the den situated at the bottom came into view.  

“Morning kids.” Stanley’s voice came absentmindedly from the room. He was perched in a recliner that Ford didn’t recognize, with both his feet and tail tucked underneath himself. His wings lay beside him, untucked and lounging off the chair and onto the floor. Stan looked up as the trio reached the bottom of the staircase, and his yellow eyes perked. “Oh. Hey Sixer. I didn’t realize you would be up with the kids.”

“Morning Stanley.” Ford smiled back, his voice skipping with edge as he reached his brother’s name. “The kids were just telling me about the visitor you’ve been keeping in the basement.”

Stanley’s eyes widened, before shooting towards Dipper and Mabel. Dipper suddenly took interest in the wooden door frame. Mabel returned Stan’s accusatory glare with a face a faux confusion.

“God, you two didn’t waste any time with that, did ya?” Stan shifted his gaze toward his brother. “Yeah, we do. That would be Jeffery Trigger. He’s going to be staying with us for a while... Maybe shorter. Or longer. Maybe.”

Ford inhaled sharply. His face was growing red, but he stuck a hand up and ran it through his hair to distract from it.

“And where, pray tell, would Jeffery be?” Ford continued to pry.

“In the basement.”

“Okay. Why?”

“Well, there’s only the one cell in the house.” Stanley said nonchalantly. Ford pushed his palms against his temples.

“What cell? I never built any cells.”

“Then what’s the room with the big glass wall in it?” Mabel asked.

“The observation chamber? You locked somebody in the observation chamber?”

Stanley pulled his arms away from the chair and shrugged his massive shoulders.

“What’s the big deal? It’s still a room with a lock on it. It works just fine.”

"What about the animal locked in there? What did you do with it?”

Confusion flashed across Stan’s face for a moment.

“You mean the lizard? Don’t worry about it- the thing got out.”

The red color continued to spread across Ford’s face.

“It got out?” He echoed. “It got out where? Outside?”

“No, out into the basement. I think it’s still there. We haven’t actually seen it since the portal activated.”

Ford eyes widened, but he remained quiet. The man covered his eyes for a moment and muttered to himself, under his breath.

_This house is falling apart! Stanley’s in charge of kids, a monster infection is running rampant, and there’s a Chupacabra running around somewhere in this god-forsaken house… What the hell did I get dragged into?_

Ford sighed and pulled his hand away from his face. _I can deal with that agent fellow. That’s one thing. Easy._

“Stanley,” Ford began, crossing his arms across his chest. “There aren’t any lights in the observation chamber, or a bathroom, and I know you wouldn’t have added any unless you knew you were going to use it.” Then he suddenly paused. “You didn’t plan on using it, did you?”

“No! Geese, Sixer, show a little faith. I’m your brother, not a criminal.” Ford’s eyes narrowed, and Stanley rolled his eyes. “Don’t be like that. I haven’t been arrested in years.”

“That’ not true. You’ve been arrested a boat load of times this summer.” Dipper interjected. Stan shot a look at Dipper, who met his glare with a face equally as sassy.

“You know what? It’s fine. That’s not even mildly surprising.” Ford turned and took a couple of tentative steps toward the side room. “Can you please introduce me to your captive?”

Stanly slunk deeper into his chair, releasing a deep grunt as he slid toward the floor.

“Sure.” He growled, his deep voice enhanced by his stony wind-pipes.

Digging a talon into the head of the recliner, Stan pulled himself up and over the chair in a slow, fluid motion. He was in the air for a moment before landing on the floor with a heavy thunk, his wings slapping the floor behind him. Ford rolled his eyes and continued toward the vending machine that concealed the hidden staircase.

"Was that really necessary?”

“It feels better on my back.” Stan defended, placing a talon at the base of his spine for emphasis.

“Your back?” Ford laughed. “Jesus, you got old.”

“You should talk, Mr. Fantastic.” Stan chortled back, pointing toward Ford’s greying hair.

As the group moved into the next room, Ford reached for the vending machine, only to have it swing open before he could grasp it. He leapt backwards, narrowly avoiding the hulking door as it swung open.

            “Can y'all keep it down?” A female voice groaned. Stanford craned his neck around the open door to catch the red-headed werewolf from before. The long hair on her head was ruffled in a crazy pile atop her shoulders, as if it had transformed into a creature itself and tried to consume head.

Ford stalled for a moment. _What was her name again? Wednesday? The Addams Family was probably still popular._ HIs brow furrowed in thought. _No, that’s not quite it…_

\“Wendy!” Stanford realized. Wendy turned to face him, a look of annoyance dripping from her face.

“Yup. That’s my name.” She said. She slowly turned back to the group and let out a drowsy sigh. “I have been up literally all night. I need to sleep.” Wendy drawled sleepily.

“Weren’t you asleep on the couch?” Stanley asked. Wendy let her head drop.

“No. But trust me, I tried to.” Eyes red from lack of sleep darted from Stanley to Stanford, and then to the Dipper and Mabel. She motioned with her hand from the group to lean in close. Stanley and the twins did so immediately. Ford followed suit a moment later. “Listen, Trigger had a rough night. Not that I went downstairs to ask or anything. After you guys went to bed, he started acting like how me and my brothers did we when first transformed. I could hear him through the floor. I could hear you guys from down there too.” She rubbed her temples, her fingers wrestling through her matted hair as she did so. “Trigger was howling up a storm ] last night. Did you guys really not hear it?”

“We don’t really have ears like yours.” Mabel stated. “I mean, Dipper sorta does, but he was super out last night.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry Wendy. I didn’t catch any howling.” Dipper added. The ginger werewolf rolled her eyes.

“Figures.” She rubbed her eyes, then turned to Stanley. “I’m going to bed Mr. Pines. I’m pretty sure Trigger is asleep or something.”

“Alright. The couch is still open.”

 Wendy scuffled past, squeezing between the two Stans. Stanley grabbed her forearm, but Wendy didn’t seem to notice. She continued to shuffle forward, and only stopped when she realized she wasn’t making any progress toward the living room. The teenager whipped her head backwards, so that the top of her snout was pointed toward the floor.

“What is it?” Wendy whined.

“What were doing downstairs all night?” Stanley asked. “You said he only started howling when we went to bed.”

“Oh.” Wendy shuffled. “I don’t know. Maybe I felt bad or something.” She looked up, only to be met with looks of confusion. “For like, biting him or whatever. I don’t know. Don’t worry about it.”

“Alright. Go and get some shut eye. But we might talk about that later, kid.”

Wendy yawned and murmured something that sounded like an acknowledgement.

Stanley’s let go of Wendy’s arm, and she groggily turned and shuffled away from the group.

Waddles oinked softly and bounded after the teenager, following Wendy’s tail as it dragged behind her.

“Aw,” Mabel said. “That was really sweet of her.”

Ford turned his head and scoffed.

“Are you kidding? She looked like she wanted to bite all our heads off.” Ford replied.

“That’s just her resting face. She means well.” Stanley nodded. He plucked Mabel from Dipper’s back and set her on his shoulders.

“Jese, you’re tall Gruncle Stan.” Mabel grinned.

“Not really kid, but I’ll take that compliment. Watch your head.” Stanley ducked and stepped into the secret passageway.

“I can carry her.” Dipper protested softly.

“You’ve been carrying her for days, Dipper. I’m sure your back can use a break.”

“And you still have that concussion, Dipper.” Mabel added.

“That’s fair.” Dipper shrugged as he mosied behind Stanley, with Ford taking the back. They all inched forward and squeezed into the elevator, their shoulders all touching in the tiny space. The rickety contraption groaned against the combined weight of all four of the Pines. Stanley pulled the lever and the elevator began to descend toward the next floor of the basement. Ford felt the need to latch onto something, despite knowing that the elevator was perfectly safe. He did build it himself, after all. Well, it was safe as long as Stanley had maintained it at least a speck. Which he had to do, if he had been using the elevator to rebuild to portal for all these years.

A large grate above their heads shuddered, and a small bolt shivered free of the rusted metal. It fell to the floor with a soft ping.

“Whoops.” Stanley muttered. He plucked the bolt from the floor and twisted it back into place. “I keep forgetting to fix that.”

The urge to latch on to something suddenly doubled in Ford.

With a small ding, the doors opened, and the group quickly filled out. The elevator groaned once more, as if to say goodbye.

Ford pushed toward the front of the group and grabbed the door handle to the observation room.

“This is where you locked him?” He confirmed. Stanley nodded. Not waiting another moment, Ford forced the door open and peered into the murky darkness of the chamber. Well, it was only semidarkness. There was a small lamp in the glass part of the room, plugged in, but knocked over. It cast bizarre shapes on the wall, partially from the unideal position it held on the floor, but mostly because of the yellow, furry mass that slept in front of it, instead of on the overturned cot that also occupied the space.

“Oh my god.” Ford managed. The man grabbed the hair at the base of his neck and began to pace along the length of the observational glass. “Oh my god.”

“It looks kind of bad.” Stanley admitted.

“Looks bad?” Ford gawked. “You have to be kidding me, Stanley. This is very bad. What are you going to do when he gets out? What are you going to do when somebody comes looking for him?”

“Ford, relax. Other than Wendy, the only people who know about the basement are currently in it. We’re fine.” Stanley explained. His brother continued to pace.

“What if he escapes, huh? What then?”

Dipper shuffled, then butted into his Gruncles’ back and forth.

“Well, he is a werewolf now. I’m not quite sure if anybody from his agency will recognize him, let alone trust him. I mean, look at how they reacted to zombies. We chased the undead off the same night we summoned them, and we’ve only heard from the agents now, instead of weeks ago. They probably don’t even have experience with magical dealings.”

Stan smiled, and ruffled Dipper’s hair. The cervitaur tucked as he did so, his ears twitching with annoyance.

“See Ford, even the kid knows not worry about it.”

Ford stopped pacing and crossed his arms. 

“...Fine.” He finally conceded. The man huffed, then turned his attention to the blonde creature laying in the makeshift cell. “When was he bit?”

“Last night, before the portal shenanigans.” Stan answered.

“Last night?” Dipper echoed. “It feels like months ago now.”

Stan carried on, as if he hadn’t heard Dipper, and gestured toward the wad of bandages tied around Trigger’s shoulder.

“Wendy got ‘em real good.”

Mabel crawled over Stan’s shoulder and peered into the cell. Miniscule specks of red had leaked through the cloth, and a few stray dots had stained his yellow fur. She whistled.

“She sure did.” Mabel confirmed.

“As far as Werewolf bites go, it’s not the worst I’ve ever seen.” Ford mused. “We should still clean it out eventually. Infected bites kill werewolves more than silver bullets, you know.”

“Really?” Dipper perked.

“Well, no actually. It’s usually bigger werewolves. Bites can still a problem though.”

Placing his hands on his hips, Stan peered into the cell and the agent inside it. Ford was probably right- if kidnapping was going to be a problem, he didn’t want health endangerment, or whatever the legal term was for it, on top of his current multitude of legal problems. He sighed, and placed Mabel on the floor beside the door.

“Hey!” Mabel protested.

The gargoyle stepped out of the room for a moment, returning with a first aid kit that had been hanging in the hall.

“Sixer, you mind helping with this?” Stan asked, picking up the metal box in his hand slightly.

“Alright.” Ford agreed. “Are we just going to go in there?”

“That’s the plan.” Stanley shrugged. “He’s asleep anyhow.” Ford sighed and shook his head but fell into step into his brother.

“Besides, if he does wakes up, what is he going to with the both of use in there together?” Stanley continued. The gargoyle reached for the door and unlatched it, and the two brothers walked in.

“Yeah, what’s the worst that can happen?” Ford mocked. A granite wing suddenly struck Ford in the shoulder, and Ford tumbled backward a step in surprise. A six-fingered hand grabbed his limb where Stanley’s wing had hit him.

“Did you just punch me?”

“I did, smart-alec.”

“Don’t you mean smart-as-”

Stanley’s tail slashed out and knocked Ford off of his feet. Ford fell backwards and slammed into the ground.

“Stanley! What the hell?”

“Stop swearing in front of the kids, dummy! They’re twelve.”

“We’ve heard swearing before.” Dipper cut in.

“I’m trying to be a decent guardian.” Stanley continued. “It’s not going great, cause everyone in this darn house seems to swear more than I do.”

Kneeling as he spoke, Staley grabbed Trigger by his uninjured shoulder and rolled him so that the agent’s back rested against the ground.

“That’s weird.” Stan muttered.

“What?” Ford inched closer and bent over the transformed man. The transformation looked complete. Short yellow hair sprouted from his body and covered his face and snout. But something was different in Trigger’s transformation to a werewolf than Wendy’s was. His ears were bent downward and were less pointed, had his fur was cleaner and less jagged. Pinching the snout between his fingers, Ford turned the squarish mouth to further examine the unusual features.

“How unusual. He doesn’t quite resemble a wolf…” The man mused as he set Trigger’s snout back onto the ground.  

“He looks like a dog.” Stan added. Mabel scooched closer to the window and placed both her palms against it.

“Aw, like a labrador.”

Simultaneously, Ford and Stan cocked their heads to the side.

“Huh,” Stan huffed. “I guess can see that.”

His talons began to dig into Trigger’s bandages, revealing the pink wound underneath. It had partially healed- Stanley supposed it had something to do with the magic transformation, or something. To be honest, he only really followed half of the mystical happenings in Gravity Falls. But unluckily for Trigger, the injury hadn’t fully healed. If anything, it looked like it had reopened. By the state of the chamber, it wasn’t preposterous to guess it was from the feral movements that came with his carnivorous transformation.

“But that doesn’t make any sense.” Ford protested, grabbing Trigger’s new snout once again. He pinched on of the canine-like ears and let it drop floppily. “A bite shouldn’t have transformed him in the first place, since Wendy isn’t even a real werewolf. Unless…” Ford trailed off. “I may have to do some further research into this.”

“Forever the scientist, eh, Ford?”

Ford didn’t answer, instead opting to stare at Triggers form, his eyes narrowed, and his brow furrowed. His brother rolled his eyes and continued his work on Trigger’s wound. Removing the last of the soiled bandages from Triggers wound and wiping it clean as best as he could with disinfectant wipes, Stanley retrieved and pressed a clean cotton pad against the exposed skin. Then he grabbed a roll of Medical tape and began to wrap it tightly around Triggers shoulder and underneath the joint of his arm, careful not to catch the any of the stray fibers on his sandpaper-like skin. He gave the wrap a final tug, pulling it tight against the wound.

“Mmhhm.” Trigger moaned. He turned slightly and rubbed his free paw against his eyes. The canine-like agent pulled his arm away blinked his eyes open. Then froze. Stanley took a similarly frozen posture and stared back to the suddenly awoken man below him.

“Morning.” Stanley tried, cracking an awkward smile. Trigger started to squirm under Stan’s grasp, and pushed the talons away from his shoulder with his unpinned arm. Stanley pushed gently against the wound.

“Ow!” Trigger yelped. The man stopped squirming, and instead began to swat at the hand that held him down to the floor. “Get off of me, Pines!”

“No thank you, I’m good here.” Stan answered. He continued to work on the bandages, and after a moment, Trigger stopped attempting to force Stan away.

“My elbow still hurts.” Trigger eventually managed.

“One would expect that after elbowing somebody made of rock.”

“Mmh.” Trigger growled in reply.

“Does he have more than one injury?” Ford cut in.

Trigger turned toward the new voice, before freezing as his eyes landed on the newcomer. Apparently, he hadn’t yet spotted Ford in the chamber. Trigger spent a solid minute examining Stanford’s face, before turning his head back towards Stanley’s. Then he turned back to Ford. Then to back Stan. Then finally back to Ford.

Trigger rose his uninjured arm and pointed it directly against Ford’s face, which had pulled back at the sudden movement. Trigger was quiet for a solid moment before opening his pointed jaws.

“Who, the _fuck,_ are you supposed to be?!” Trigger exclaimed, recoiling and repointed with every additional accent in his words.

Mabel’s jaw dropped and a small giggle escaped from her quickly covered smile. Dipper offered peaked highbrows and a quickly averted gaze.

“Language.” Stan hissed calmly, as he continued to wrap the end of Trigger’s bandages.

Trigger turned toward Stanley and narrowed his eyes at the gargoyle, who still lumbered over his arm.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that kidnapping was okay, but bad grammar isn’t in madhouse. Let me try that one more time. _Whom_ the _fu_ -”

Stanley quickly cupped the were-dog’s mouth with his hand.

“Kids, you should go step into the hall.” Stan chimed quickly.  

“Come on Grunkle Stan, we’re fine. It’s not we haven’t anything like that before.” Dipper said. Suddenly, Trigger lurched forward and opened his mouth slightly, licking Stan’s palm. Stan pulled away, a grimace quickly painting his features as he rubbed his hand dry on discarded bandages.

“Get the fuck off’a me!” Trigger yelled.

“Hallway!” Stanley repeated.

 

* * *

 

 

Wendy laid on her back, letting her heavy limbs dug into the musty couch cushions she laid upon. She didn’t bother with the blanket tucked beneath her feet- it was much to hot for it anyway. Mabel’s pig, who had long since given up on chasing Wendy’s tail, had taken a space beside her on the floorboards. It was quiet. Smiling, Wendy curled in closer to herself, letting sleep slur into her exhausted body.

It had been several minutes since the Pine’s had wandered into the basement. She could still hear them, however faintly, but the hushed sounds of their voices mixed into the soft buzz of the forest outside, effectively drowning them out into a natural sound of monotony.

Her mind began to drift off. Sentences turned to incoherent phrases, and thoughts turned to static. Wendy exhaled peacefully, and let sleep take her.  

This maybe lasted five minutes.

Sounds of tires rolling across gravel awoke Wendy. The teenager rolled over, covering her ears in a desperate attempt to block out the interruptive sound. To her disappointment, it didn’t work. The tires continued to roll down the driveway, increasing their volume as they approached and eventually stopped in front of the house. A door opened, and a pair of feet tumbled out of the vehicle and scurried around on the rocks. A screech of metal marked the opening of another door on the vehicle. Someone outside grunted, followed by something falling to the ground.

“Shit. Get back into the car.” Muttered the voice outside. Wendy pushed her paws harder into her ears.

_Go away._ She silently urged the stranger. _Come back tomorrow._

Whoever was outside ignored her unspoken pleas, and began to make their way to the porch, marked by the crunch of their feet on gravel. Soon, creaking traced their position on the wooden porch, until they reached the front door. And then... nothing.

_Yes!_ Wendy cheered. _Hesitate. Run away. Let me sleep in peace!_

Then came a timid knock at the door.

_Damn it._ Wendy cursed. She laid on the couch another moment, hoping the stranger would give up after no one immediately answered.

Another knock.

Wendy huffed in defeat and crawled out of her position on the couch. She sleepily shuffled to the door. She could hear the stranger breathing heavily from the other side as she got closer. Something was familiar about it, but Wendy couldn’t quite place in her sleep-deprived fog.

Finally, she reached the door, and without further thought, she swung it open, letting herself be bathed by the late morning sunlight.

“Hello?” She asked, squinting into the bright light as her eyes adjusted. She saw a black and blue blur before her, standing inches out from the door frame.

“...Wendy?” The voice asked, leaning in slightly as it did so. As her eyes began to make out the hoodie wearing-figure before her, Wendy finally connected the speaker's voice to a face.

“Robbie?” Wendy asked, still squinting in the sun. The image before her was blurry, but it was definitely Robbie. His skin was blue, and parts of it were missing, but it was Robbie. “What are you doing here?”

“What are you?” Robbie asked back. “Did Pine actually make you come to work today? With… paws?”

“Something like that.” Wendy answered. “It’s not there’s anything better to do.”

Robbie arched his eyebrows in disbelief.

“Whatever you say, Fido.” Robbie shuffled uneasily and peered behind Wendy into the house. “So I, um, don’t suppose Stanford’s here.”

“Well of course Stanford’s here. Why are you looking for...” Wendy trailed off. Stanford was indeed in the house, but Robbie didn’t know Stanford. Not the real Stanford, anyway. He still thought Stanley was his brother.

Wendy trailed off, her eyes glazing over.

“Wendy?” Robbie asked. He waved a partially skinned hand in front of her face, and the werewolf jumped back to attention.

“I’m here.” She stated, waving his hand away from her face. Robbie in turn pulled his palm away and shoved it into his pocket.

“Are you okay?” He asked. “You totally blanked out there for a second.”

Wendy grinned in reply, a hint of mischief digging at the edge of her smile.

“Oh yeah, I’m fine. You should totally come on in. I’ll go get the Stanford.” Wendy grinned, the corners of her snout crinkling strangely at the un-canine like emote. Robbie noticed this out of place smile and narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“Are you up to something?” Robbie asked.

“What? No! You need to chill out, Pet Cemetery.” Wendy scoffed, though her smile was still spread across her face.

“Uh-huh. Sure.” Robbie said. He stepped into the house but followed her no further than to the recliner. “I’m serious Wendy, I need to talk to Stan or somebody. It’s kind of important.”

Wendy continued deeper into the house, making her way toward the gift shop.

“Or yeah, I can get Stan or _somebody_.” Wendy said. She pressed into the room, but before disappearing, she paused and looked back at her ex-boyfriend and laughed. “God, you have no idea what you just walked into.”

Confusion curled across Robbie’s face, but before he could press any further, Wendy disappeared into the gift shop, leaving Robbie alone in the empty room.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Some of you may recognize this story from FF.net- No worries! It's still me. I'm just checking out some more websites to publish on. And if you don't know me, great! I want to thank you so much for reading. I'll post more chapters soon!


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